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CBI Court to Dera sadh: You
exploited and raped women, committed murder
Rape charges framed against Sirsa fraudster, he's trying to get case
shifted to hometown
WSN Network
 AMBALA: On September 7,
after repeatedly making excuses of illness, the fraudster Dera Sirsa
head stood meekly in the court of special CBI Judge A.K. Verma who
ordered that charges be framed against the self-styled sadh for
rape, criminal intimidation, outraging modesty of a woman and murder
in three different cases.
Gurmeet Ram
Rahim, said the CBI after painstaking investigations, was a prime
accused for sexually exploiting sadhvis in his dera.
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Haryana
helping Dera
CHANDIGARH:
The CBI is resisting the Haryana government’s proposal to shift
the trial of three criminal cases against Sirsa Dera chief
Gurmeet Ram Rahim and has instead suggested videoconferencing
arrangements at Ambala and Sirsa courts, but Sikh bodies see a
gameplan in all this. Haryana government had moved Punjab and
Haryana high court seeking permission to conduct the trial in
Sirsa but the family of slain journalist Ram Chander Chattarpati
has sought the shifting of the trial to Delhi. |
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The CBI,
India's top sleuthing agency, had booked him under sections 376
(rape), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (insulting modesty of a
woman) and section 302 (murder). The Dera chief, who had taken
exemption from personal appearance on medical grounds on August 23,
remained present in the court for over an hour. He will now face a
regular trial. Next date of hearing was fixed on October 4. Next to
be taken up are arguments on charges in Sirsa journalist Ram Chander
Chatterpati’s murder.
The baba is
widely known to have ordered this killing, and it was much before
any confrontation with the Sikhs came to the fore. The journalist
was exposing some of the sadh's deals and personal life and was
"dealt with".
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The piling
evidence
Lie detector
tests and statements by sadhvis have helped nail Sirsa sadh's
lies. The judge specially kept in mind the statements of two
sadhvis as well as the Dera chief’s ex-driver, Khatta Singh. One
sadhvi accused the Dera chief of raping her twice in the dera
but stated she initially kept quiet for the sake of her family’s
reputation and due to apprehension er husband might divorce her.
The other sadhvi alleged the dera chief had raped her inside the
dera’s gufa. Khatta told the court the Dera’s management had
told him about their head’s alleged sexual exploitation of
female inmates, adding as a result one of the victims was taken
away from the Dera by her family. Lie detection tests conducted
on suspects Inder Sen and Krishan Lal revealed deception in
their statements, indicating he baba was sexually exploiting
sadhvis. |
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His son is fighting for justice. Not much support has
been forthcoming from the media ever since the sadh got into a
conflict with the Sikhs. The CBI has claimed it had sufficient
evidence to nail the Dera chief. The statement of Dera chief ’s
driver Khata Singh corroborated his involvement in the crime while
the statements of Dera inmates Sarjeevan and Sapna were also read
out in the court.
The Dera chief
was booked following allegations of Ranjit’s father Joginder Singh
that his son, on the 10-member committee running the Dera affairs,
was murdered on July 10, 2002 at the behest
of the Dera
chief and his body was later recovered from Kurukshetra. The CBI
court has already framed charges in the Ranjit murder case against
Dera followers Subdil Singh, Jasbir Singh, Krishan Lal and manager
Inder Sain.
Ranjit was
suspected to be behind an anonymous letter containing details of
goings-on in the Dera and the alleged sexual abuse of “sadhvis”.
10 September 2008
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