Dera chief sentenced to 20 years in jail

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping two women at a makeshift court in Rohtak Jail on Monday by Judge Jagdeep Singh who was flown in a special government helicopter to pronounce the sentence. He has been served two 10-year-jail sentences in two rape cases, and both sentences will run consecutively.

Thousands of policemen, paramilitary personnel are guarding the prison and the Army is on stand by. A ten-km area around the prison had been sanitised which means no civilians were being allowed within that distance. Over 1,50,000 of Ram Rahim's followers had gathered in Panchkula, where he was convicted on Friday, and they created a mayhem which left 38 people dead and almost 300 injured.

Mobile internet services were suspended in Haryana and all schools and colleges closed in anticipation of violence once the sentence was pronounced.

It is expected that the spiritual guru’s lawyers will appeal against the verdict and the sentence in Supreme Court.