India's 'guru of bling' is convicted of raping two followers

Ram Rahim Singh's supporters riot after rape conviction

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/ram-rahim-singh-supporters-riot-rape-conviction-170825114911486.html

Nearly 30 people killed and scores wounded as supporters of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh protest guilty verdict for rape.

At least 28 people have been killed in India as violent protests erupted after a court convicted a self-styled "godman" of raping two female followers.

Friday's verdict angered thousands of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's supporters who said he was innocent.

Singh was found guilty in a case dating back to 2002 at the headquarters of his Dera Sacha Sauda group in the northern town of Sirsa.

Supporters rampaged in response, setting fire to government buildings, attacking railway stations, petrol stations and television vans in towns across the northern states of Punjab and Haryana soon after the verdict was announced, witnesses said.

Hundreds of Indian police and soldiers patrolled Panchkula, the town where the court gave its verdict on Singh, as local officials feared an outbreak of violence.

Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protesters.

The violence left at least 28 dead, including some with bullet wounds, and more than 250 injured, according to BS Sandhu, a top Haryana police official.

He said more than 1,000 of the guru's supporters had been detained in Panchkula on charges of arson and destruction of public property.

A spokesman for the guru's sect, Dera Sacha Sauda, urged his supporters to remain calm. "I just want to request everyone to maintain peace at the moment," said Dilawar Insan. "We will explore what legal options are available to us."

Dozens of cars were burning in Panchkula town while a bloodied body lay in the middle of a road.

 "The [police] have updated us on the law and order situation in Panchkula... The situation is still tense, but not out of control," said federal home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said in New Delhi.

READ MORE: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh convicted in 2002 rape case

A curfew was imposed in four districts in Punjab that are strongholds of the Dera Sacha Sauda group.

"There has been violence in some towns in Punjab, we are taking all measures to maintain peace," said the state chief minister Amarinder Singh.

A defence spokesman said six columns of the Indian army, amounting to about 600 men, had been deployed in Panchkula to help police and paramilitary contain violent mobs.

Security lockdown

The guru's sect claims to have some 50 million followers and campaigns for vegetarianism and against drug addiction. Singh describes his sect as a social welfare and spiritual organisation.

More than 100,000 had gathered near the court premises before the verdict

The 50-year-old leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda group was taken into custody under military escort and will be housed in a jailhouse in the nearby town of Rohtak until his sentencing on Monday.

"The court has convicted Ram Rahim Singh of rape charges," Kohal Dev Sharma, a lawyer at the court said. "Justice has finally prevailed."

Sharma said the Singh faced a minimum of seven years in prison.

Singh, a burly, bearded man who has scripted and starred in his own films, denied the rape charge. He had called on his followers through a video message to remain peaceful.

"We all must respect the law and maintain peace," he said.

Singh denies the rape charges against him [AFP]

When the guru left his ashram in Sirsa early Friday for the hearing, he was accompanied by a 100-vehicle convoy.

Police had erected heavy metal barricades topped with barbed wire along main roads in the town, a quiet residential suburb of Chandigarh, which is the common capital of Haryana and Punjab states.

Officers on horseback monitored crowds near the court. Helicopters whirred overhead.

"We are prepared to deal with any situation, but are confident that adequate measures have been put in place," said BS Sandhu, a top Haryana police official, before the verdict was read.

Army soldiers planned to march later Friday through the streets to instill a sense of security, Sandhu said.

Mobile internet services had also been suspended in the states of Haryana and Punjab to stop people from spreading rumours and causing unrest, senior government official Ram Niwas said.

Train services were cancelled through the area, leading to railway delays across north India. Schools and colleges were closed.

Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protesters [Money Sharma/AFP/Getty Images]

NEW DELHI — Hundreds of people have been arrested in a north Indian city after protests over the rape conviction of a religious sect leader turned violent, leaving 32 dead and more than 200 injured. 

Followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect were there to support its chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, known as India’s “rock-star baba” and the “guru of bling” for his garish, rhinestone-
studded costumes and on-screen performances.

In an anonymous letter in 2002, Singh was accused of raping two female devotees, and in 2008 he was formally charged with rape and intimidation.

The violence began Friday afternoon in Panchkula, in the northern state of Haryana, where an estimated 100,000followers had gathered, awaiting the verdict in the trial. Singh’s supporters were seen weeping and fainting as they waited for the judge to rule on the long-running case.

Media reports suggested that Singh has been given a special cell at Sunaria jail as he awaits his sentencing on Monday. And the Haryana government has come under sharp criticism for giving him special treatment. 

Haryana’s chief secretary, Depinder Singh Dhesi, denied allegations that Singh was being held in a police guesthouse: “He has been kept like a normal prisoner. In the whole case, if anyone had done any sort of leniency in his duty, then required action will be taken.”

Judge Jagdeep Singh, who convicted the famous guru, criticized the Haryana government for allowing such a volatile situation to build up outside his courtroom. India’s Home Ministry directed the state government to provide high-level security for the judge. 

Followers started trickling into Panchkula a week before the verdict was due. Many put down tarpaulins and squatted on the streets outside the court.

By Friday, there were so many people on the city’s streets that a sports stadium was prepared as a mass jail for arrested protesters.

Clashes also spread to the town of Sirsa, where Singh’s sect has its headquarters.

Eyewitnesses described protesters throwing stones, setting vehicles ablaze and toppling media vans in Panchkula. In the Indian capital of New Delhi, an empty train was set on fire.

Haryana Police Chief B.S. Sandhu said Friday night that 550 people had been detained and that some weapons were recovered in Panchkula. 

An unnamed staff member from the sanitation department at the Civil Hospital in Panchkula described to the Indian Express newspaper seeing about a hundred people, some of them dead, on stretchers. “It was a horrific scene inside [the] emergency [room],” the staff member was quoted as saying. Cellphones in the pockets of corpses rang through the night, the Express reported.

Doctors told reporters that many of those admitted were police officers and that the death toll could rise because of the number of those seriously injured.

The Times of India reported that the government gave orders to fire at rioters after a senior police officer was surrounded by an angry mob.

In a series of tweets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for calm Friday night: “The instances of violence today are deeply distressing. I strongly condemn the violence & urge everyone to maintain peace,” he wrote.

Police fired shots in the air after the violence erupted, using water cannons and tear gas to quell the crowds. About 600 soldiers were deployed.

After his conviction, Singh was flown out of Panchkula. A minimum seven-year sentence is expected to be pronounced on Monday.

Singh, who claims to have 60 million followers and supernatural powers, has a penchant for appearing in self-produced music videos and movies such as “MSG: The Messenger” and its sequels, for which he co-wrote scripts, co-directed, and sang songs. In the films he has superhero-like qualities, performing motorcycle stunts and killing ghosts and aliens. In 2016, his song “Love Charger” was played by Jimmy Fallon in a segment on “The Tonight Show.”

Followers defend Singh, saying he has set up vast social welfare programs, including huge blood donation drives, and has perfomed mass marriages for former sex workers.

But behind his flamboyant image, Singh and his entourage are dogged by accusations of criminal activity.

In ongoing cases, Singh and members of his inner circle have been accused of two murders and intimidation in attempts to bury the accusations of rape.

Read more:

Riots break out after India’s “guru of bling” convicted

Who is Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh? 

Indian cities on lockdown ahead of rape trial verdict