Gurugram: Notwithstanding his acquittal in the Ranjit Singh murder case by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh will remain in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail as he stands convicted in two other cases involving the rape of two former Dera Sadhvis and the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.
A division bench of Justices Sureshwar Thakur and Lalit Batra Tuesday allowed an appeal filed by Ram Rahim Singh and four others against the conviction by a special CBI court in the murder case of former Dera official Ranjit Singh.
In October 2021, the special CBI court had held that it was proved beyond reasonable doubt that Ram Rahim was feeling aggrieved by the circulation of a letter wherein severe allegations of sexual exploitation of his disciples were levelled against him and that he conspired along with other accused to commit Ranjit Singh’s murder.
The HC, however, acquitted Ram Rahim and four Dera Sacha Sauda functionaries and noted multiple lapses in the investigation.
But, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples. He is also convicted for murdering journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati in which he was handed a life term that will run after the end of his 20-year term.
Also Read: Channi to Ravneet Bittu, Punjab candidates of all stripes are flocking to ‘apolitical’ Dera Beas
Anonymous letter, two cases
According to the CBI, Ranjit Singh was a manager in Ram Rahim’s Dera and his family members were the Dera chief’s disciples. In 2002, an anonymous letter was circulated accusing Ram Rahim of sexually exploiting Dera Sadhvis. Ranjit Singh resigned from the post of manager and left the Dera along with his family members.
The CBI chargesheet alleged Ram Rahim suspected that Ranjit Singh, whose sister was also a sadhvi in the Dera, was behind that anonymous letter. The chargesheet said that Ranjit Singh was summoned to the Dera and he was threatened of dire consequences though he denied having any role behind the letter. He was later gunned down on 10 July, 2002.
Later, this anonymous letter was published in Poora Sach, an evening daily published from Sirsa. On 24 October 2002, five days after the letter was published, Poora Sach editor Ram Chander Chhatrapati was shot at by two Dera followers outside his residence. Later, he succumbed to the gunshot injuries on 21 November.
It was only after the High Court ordered a CBI probe into cases against Ram Rahim that investigations began against him.
In August 2017, Ram Rahim was convicted on two counts of rape and sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment. In January 2019, a special CBI court convicted him for the murder of Chhatrapati and sentenced him for life with a rider that the term will begin after he completes his 20-year imprisonment in rape case. The Dera chief filed an appeal at the High Court against both cases and his appeal is pending.
Ram Rahim was also accused of forcing over 400 male followers to castrate by fooling them that it would lead to realisation of God. In July 2012, Hans Raj Chauhan, a Dera disciple, had filed a petition in the High Court alleging that he along with over 400 others were surgically castrated between 1999 and 2000.
In this case, a criminal case was registered against Ram Rahim in 2015 on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Three years on, the CBI filed a chargesheet against Ram Rahim. Two doctors, who worked in the Shah Satnam Ji Multispeciality Hospital at the time of the alleged crime, were also named as accused. The case is still under trial before the special CBI court in Panchkula.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Indian atheists fight community, courts, caste. Tricky balance between culture & religion