Qaidi No. 1997: Gurmeet Ram Rahim sentenced to 20 years in prison, not 10

NEW DELHI: The quantum of punishment given to Gurmeet Ram Rahim is 20 years in prison confirms Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar.  The Special CBI court judge Jagdeep Singh has awarded a twenty-year sentence to the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who was convicted on Friday in a 2002 rape case in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail.

CBI court sentences Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to 20 years in jail for rape.

Apart from 20-years in prison, Rs 30 lakh fine on the 50-year-old Dera chief.

The rapist baba was on Friday found guilty in the 15-year-old case of rape of two of his female followers in 2002 and has been lodged in the Sunaira jail after his conviction by the special CBI court in Panchkula.

CBI special court judge Jagdeep Singh and his team flown to Rohtak Jail library, which has been turned into a makeshift court to pronounce the quantum of sentence.

Defence lawyer SK Narwana argued Ram Rahim Singh is a social worker who has worked for welfare of people, so judge should take a lenient view where as Prosecution demanded the maximum punishment of life sentence.

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The CBI lawyer in concluding argument said, “There are 45 other victims, who have not been able to come forward. The victims were raped for three years.”

Minutes after the sect head was convicted on Friday, his followers who had gathered in thousands over past few days in Panchkula, unleashed mayhem. 36 people died and over 250 were injured in the violence which broke out at Panchkula and Sirsa after Ram Rahim was convicted.