Son of slain journo who exposed Dera chief satisfied with verdict

After the court sentenced rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to ten years of imprisonment, Anshul Chhatrapati; son of journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati, who was killed for exposing the Dera Sacha Sauda chief; expressed satisfaction over the judgement.

Talking to ANI, Anshul said, "The verdict of the court is satisfactory. We have been saying since long that this man (Ram Rahim Singh) is enemy of our society and doing such heinous crime. We are happy that the judicial system has put a stamp that this man is guilty, no matter what the punishment is."

Anshul's father, Ramchandra Chhatrapati, a journalist from Sirsa, was the first to publish the anonymous complaint of one of the female followers of Ram Rahim Singh.

The Dera Sacha Sauda Chief, who was held guilty on charges of rape of a female devotee in 1999, was, earlier in the day, sentenced to ten years of imprisonment by the Special CBI Court of Panchkula.

Ram Rahim was convicted with the charges of rape on Friday (August 25) by the Special CBI Court.

The rape case was registered by the CBI in April 2002 against the self-styled godman after allegations of sexual exploitation of two women followers. The then prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had received an anonymous letter from a Dera Sadhvi that she was being raped by Ram Rahim.

Following Ram Rahim's conviction on Friday, his 'bhakts' went on a rampage in Haryana's Panchkula and Sirsa and over 30 people have been killed and many have been injured in the violence.