A Bleeding God

The police claim to have proof of forced castrations in the Dera and of Honeypreet’s hand behind the riots. CBI gets fresh evidence as three sadhus undergo medical examination

- Namrata Biji Ahuja

Before August 28, 2017, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh seemed unassailable. The chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda, had crores of followers, fabulous riches and Z Plus security that befit his life as a ‘movie star’ and ‘Messenger of God’. But after a CBI special court sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment in two rape cases on that Monday, several people have come forward with more stories of illegal activities in the Dera. Many of these stories relate to sexual exploitation. “Women were forced to have sexual relations with the baba,” said A.S. Chawla, police commissioner of Panchkula, Haryana. “Medical records have proved that the sadhus who were close to the baba and [were] guarding his family were castrated.”

The CBI is investigating the mass castration case. Sources in the agency told THE WEEK that three sadhus came forward in the past one month saying they had undergone forced castration at the behest of Gurmeet. Medical examination showed they had been castrated and the CBI is preparing to submit a status report in the court in the first week of February. Dera officials, who requested anonymity, said the castration was voluntary and “a way to reach God”.

The trial in two murder cases against Gurmeet is also in the final stages, in the CBI special court in Panchkula. One, the murder in 2002 of a journalist, Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who had written about sexual exploitation in the Dera, and the other, the murder of a Dera follower, Ranjit Singh, the brother of one of the rape victims.