Jailed Dera chief will remember his crime every day, says journalist's daughter

They were demanding the death penalty but the life sentence awarded to self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has brought a measure of relief to members of the slain journalist's family.

A special CBI court Thursday sentenced the Dera Sacha Sauda head and three others to life imprisonment for the murder of Ram Chander Chhatrapati in Haryana's Sirsa in 2002.

They were convicted last Friday for killing the journalist after he published an anonymous letter alleging sexual exploitation of women at the sect's headquarters in Sirsa.

Though we were demanding capital punishment but this sentence is no less than the death sentence as he will not be able to come out of the jail for his entire life. He will be behind bars till his last breath, Shreyasi Chhatrapati, the journalist's daughter, said.

Gurmeet will now remember his crime every day and then weep while being in jail, she said. We are satisfied with the quantum of punishment pronounced by the court."