Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan was sentenced to two consecutive 10-year sentences by the special CBI court judge Jagdeep Singh. This news came to the fore hours after Singh announced the quantum of the Dera chief’s punishment.  

While leading TV news channels jumped the gun at the first word of the sentencing, we fell for the same. Nevertheless, we Newslaundry are doing everything to get our hands on the judgment. Apparently, the confusion arose due to confusion between “concurrent” and “consecutive” sentences on the two rape counts–that the Dera chief was convicted for. 

The Dera chief, who had been convicted of rape on August 25, broke down in front of the judge during his sentencing.

After Justice Singh reached the makeshift court in Rohtak’s Sonaria jail to announce the quantum of the Dera chief’s sentence hearing, he gave both sides–prosecution and defence– ten minutes each to make their case.  Even as the prosecution demanded “maximum punishment for rape convict” and Ram Rahim’s lawyer SK Narwana asked for leniency. While Narwana defended him as a “social worker who has worked for the welfare of people”, violence broke out in Haryana’s Sirsa.

Even as some Dera supporters resorted to violence, others have demanded death by hanging.

The Dera chief had been accused of sexually exploiting two sadhvis at the sect’s Sirsa headquarters. The allegations came to light in 2002, when one of the victims sent an anonymous letter to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, accusing the Dera chief of sexual abuse. After the verdict was announced, violence erupted across Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and parts of Rajasthan leading to the death of over 31 people including four were women and a seven-year-old boy.

This short as been updated.