Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the controversial head of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect in Sirsa enjoyed a massive political clout with a following of over 20 million ‘premis’ across north India. The dera has been throwing its weight behind different political parties, asking millions of it's followers to vote in favour of a particular party in the state and the general elections in India.
In 2014, the dera asked its followers to vote for the BJP, a favour acknowledged by the party when after the election, almost all the ministers of the Haryana government paid Ram Rahim a visit to thank him at his Sirsa-based headquarters.
During the 2017 Punjab assembly election, the sect directed its followers to vote for the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP coalition. In the 2009 election in Haryana, the dera followers were directed to vote for the Congress party.
Analysts believe the sect sides with the party that’s in power in New Delhi, thereby controls the Central Bureau of Investigation, an agency prosecuting the sect head and other functionaries in various criminal cases, including rape and murder. In a case of rape, 50-year-old Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was found guilty by the CBI court of Panchkula on Friday.
The undoing of the self-proclaimed messenger of God began fifteen years ago with an anonymous letter by a woman inmate of the sect headquarter which is called Dera, who accused Gurmeet Ram Rahim of raping her and several other women inmates.
The complainant sent copies of the typed Hindi letter to the then prime minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana and the Punjab and Haryana high court.
What the complainant wrote in the letter
She wrote that she was a graduate from Punjab and had been convinced by her parents to become a saadhvi at the Dera Sacha Sauda and become a disciple of Gurmeet Ram Rahim.
She said one day she was called to Ram Rahim's 'gufa'- residence of the Dera chief. Inside the gufa, the woman found Ram Rahim watching television with a pistol by his side.
Ram Rahim, the woman claimed, raped her and threatened with serious consequences if she spoke about it anywhere. The woman alleged that Ram Rahim raped her repeatedly during her stay at Dera.
The complainant claimed that there were many other girls who had met the same fate. Ram Rahim, she said in the letter, claimed that no authority could take action against him.
Nothing happened for months after the letter was sent out and it was the Punjab and Haryana high court that ordered an investigation after taking cognizance of the letter.
The anonymous letter written in 2002 that finally led to the fall of Gurmeet Ram Rahim fifteen years later. Source: Supplied
The court directed the Sirsa sessions court to hold an inquiry and submit a report.
But for the CBI, investigating this case wasn’t easy as the dera head tried to stonewall the probe by obtaining a stay on the investigation based on an anonymous letter.
"For five years, between 2002 and 2007, despite a high court order, nobody did anything because of his political clout. The CBI investigation against him didn't move much. We then decided we have to collect evidence against him, record statements of victims in rape and murder cases, but it was very difficult," M Narayan, the retired CBI officer who led this probe told
However, the CBI was finally able to overcome the biggest challenge in their way- which was to locate the complainant. The investigators began locating women inmates who had left the dera. The investigators were finally able to speak to two women including the anonymous complainant who told the court Gurmeet Ram Rahim had raped them.
However, Mr Narayan said political parties in power tried to save the god-man.
"All governments at that time tried everything to save this criminal, self-styled godman. Because of his vote bank, our political system had become helpless and rule of law was mocked year after year."
The victim finally deposed before the court in 2007, while the other woman inmate retracted her statement. Mr Narayan recalls the pressure he and the victim faced during those days.
“One of the rape victims, whose testimony helped in Ram Rahim's conviction on Friday, was under tremendous pressure from several dera followers. On one particular night, she was surrounded by several Dera followers and it wasn't easy for enforcement agencies to get to her. We sneaked into the place at night and got her removed from there. She stood her ground and gave a detailed testimony against Ram Rahim," he said.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim who also became an actor, director, script writer and music composer was arrested on Friday after the CBI judge Jagdeep Singh held him guilty of raping a woman follower. He faces a minimum of 7 years in jail for the crime.
