A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Monday sentenced Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to 20 years of imprisonment after his conviction in 2 rape cases.
Allegedly, Ram Singh convinced up to 400 men to carry out castrations on themselves because it would bring them closer to God. -Metro.co.uk
It is said that Ram Singh has an estimated net worth of $40 (£26) million and has 50 million followers worldwide. He is head of the socio-spiritual organisation Dera Sacha Sauda and also stars in movies.
The Ram Rahim Singh Controversy
Some Indian Babas are famous only because of the cases that they have been caught in. These are because they have abused the name of the Baba ideology and behaving completely opposite of what they are supposed to preach.
Ram Rahim Singh isn’t the only ‘Baba’ who has been put behind bars, there are others who have exploited their faith.
Controversial Babas (sexual crime)
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insaan’s name has come up in many criminal cases. But the most controversial case is one in which he is accused of raping one of his devotees multiple times. He was convicted by a CBI court in Panchkula in connection with a 10 year old rape case. Some other swamis like him are:
Bikram Choudhary– Hot Yoga Baba was accused of sexual charges and many cases of rape and sexual harassment against him. Asaram Bapu owns 425+ ashrams, 50+ Gurukuls across the country and in 2013, a case of sexual assault was registered against him in New Delhi. Swayambhu Baba Shiv Dwivedi ran a sex racket in Delhi and was arrested under MCOCA for flesh trade. He is also known as “Sant” (the irony though) Swami Bheemanand and Maharaj Chitrakootwaale. Swami Nithyananda has international scale devotees. He was seen with a female Tamil actor in an unpleasant state on a special telecast by a South Indian TV channel. He himself denied his involvement in the sex scandal.
Some of our readers have expressed their feelings toward the arrest made…
“Students of JNLU who raised their voice against the ruling government are termed as ‘Deshdrohis’. People who Burn Down our beloved INDIA are termed as Bhakts and Nationalist. It is such a pitiful situation in India where the rapist and convict is treated like God. The poor victim is further victimized by taunting and mere sympathy. We live in a hypocritical society that is blind folded by such criminal minds and political faith. No doubt our country is still called a ‘developing country’ even after so many years of independence… Instead of moving ahead and having an open mind to new things the strings of superstitions and religion related politics still keeps pulling us down.” –Roger
“Justice has finally been given. Under the guise of a Sadhu, he has exploited many women. We Indians believe in any person who portrays himself/herself as a God-sent without verifying the truth. We need to use our reasoning and logic to know if they are truly a holy person before believing in them.” –A. Kamath
“Law should be the same for everyone. If he committed a crime in the Middle East, he would have been hanged by the orders of the court already. Hats-off to the CBI.” –Joshino Cardoza
“Godmen… here’s a message for you: Your followers violently protesting for you is the very reason your philosophy of life that you preach is redundant.” -Tanaquil
Everyone deserves better; men and women. A ‘no’ should mean a ‘no’. Men can actually stop rape and not be an accomplice to sexual violence. If you see something wrong happening, it can be reported and dealt with. Try it. You may save a lot of lives!
