Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan, the controversial head of the Dera Sacha Sauda, Sirsa has been found guilty of raping two of his women followers, Indian media is reporting.
According to reports, he has been taken into custody and will be placed under arrest until the court announces the sentence on August 28.
The investigation against the dera head began in 2002 after a woman resident of the Sirsa-based dera wrote an anonymous letter to the then prime minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpyee and the Punjab and Haryana High Court, accusing Gurmeet Ram Rahim of sexual abuse.
The investigation began after the Punjab and Haryana High Court took cognizance of the anonymous letter and directed the CBI to register an FIR. It was subsequently reported that the complainant wasn't the only one to face the abuse at the dera.
She and another woman resident of the dera deposed before the court and testified against Gurmeet Ram Rahim.
The trial could finally begin in the case after a five-year painstaking investigation by the CBI during which the officers had the onerous task of locating the anonymous complainant who was fearful of reprisal from the powerful dera head after a journalist had already been shot dead for publishing the sadhvi's letter in which she had accused the dera head of sexual abuse.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim arrived in Panchkula at around 6:45 in a convoy of nearly 200 cars on Friday and the special court judge Jagdeep Singh read out the verdict in the presence of the accused and his lawyer.
After he was pronounced guilty, Ram Rahim was taken into custody and taken to an undisclosed location due to security concerns.
Ahead of the court verdict, nearly 150,000 followers of the dera head arrived in Panchkula, sparking massive law and order concerns as the security apparatus feared violence by the dera followers.
Paramilitary forces and army convoys were mobilised immediately after the verdict was delivered to prevent any untoward incidents of violence.
