A special CBI court charged Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and two of his accomplice doctors in charge of forcible castration of several dera disciples.
A special CBI court in Panchkula charged Gurmeet Ram Rahim for cheating, voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons and for criminal intimidation.
The two doctors – Dr MP Singh and Dr Pankaj Garg were present in the CBI court whereas Gurmeet Ram Rahim was available via video conference as he is in a Rohtak jail. He is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two devotees inside the Dera headquarters. Both the doctors had allegedly done the castration of several hundreds of Dera disciples on the lure of money. They were charged with criminal conspiracy and causing grievous hurt.
Six victims who brought the charges against Gurmeet Ram Rahim stated that they were castrated by the two doctors at the behest of Gurmeet Ram Rahim.
Ram Rahim was charged under Sections 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) 417 (cheating) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) whereas the two doctors were charged under Section 326 and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
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One of the prosecution witnesses said to the media that he was a ‘sadhu’ in the dera when the castrations incident took place. The followers were first made landowners and after that, they were brainwashed for the castration. After the castration, their power of attorney was taken away from them. These land were later on transferred to the Dera Sacha Sauda Trust.
In its charge sheet filed on 1st February CBI said that two charity hospitals of the dera and an old printing press building in Sirsa were used for carrying out mass castrations. Besides that Shah Satnamji Speciality Hospital inside the dera precincts and Shah Satnamji General Hospital at the dera chief’s ancestral village in Rajasthan’s Gurusar Modia village were other spots for illegal castrations.
As per CBI charge sheet, a list of 166 dera followers who were allegedly castrated was provided by a Dera follower. They were all castrated at the behest of Ram Rahim at dera properties in early 2000.
The next date of hearing in the case is scheduled on August 17, 2018
