Who Is Gurmeet Ram Rahim?: Life Of Infamous Saint, Rape Convict (Photo @Gagan4344)
Born in 1967 in Sri Gurusar Modia village in Rajasthan to a landlord father Maghar Singh and a housewife mother, Naseeb Kaur, Gurmeet Singh grew up in his hometown. When Gurmeet was a child, he used to accompany his father going to the Dera Sacha Sauda established by Baba Balochistani Beparwah Mastana.
As a devoted follower, Maghar Singh spent a lot of time to explore spiritual thoughts at the ashram. His son Gurmeet also volunteered in Dera while accompanying his father. Notably, it was an announcement by Dera Sacha Sauda founder in 1990 that transformed the life of the 23-year-old Gurmeet when Shah Satnam Singh named him as his successor calling ‘Huzoor Maharaj Gurmeet Ram Rahim,’ and thus becoming the Dera chief at a younger age.
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Gurmeet Singh’s friend Gurjant Singh, who was once imprisoned for murdering his uncle and became notorious is believed by many in Sirsa to have been involved in the turn of event in the life of Gurmeet. Many attribute Gurmeet’s rise to Gurjant’s notoriety and potential threats.
Unlike his predecessors who lived a simple life, Gurmeet chose to wear costly costumes and led a lavish life. Though a proponent of celibacy, he had a son and two daughters staying with him in Dera’s quarters. He also adopted Honeypreet as his third daughter. Gurmeet is also, reportedly, surrounded by his women devotee attendees at his ashram.
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The strange and controversial practice that later landed him in jail was happening in a cave-themed palatial underground home in the Dera that he allegedly built to meditate and sexually abuse women. Gurmeet reportedly chooses girls from his female devotees and makes them surrender their bodies. These women will be later married off to male devotees of Gurmeet, as per his instructions. The women in the Ashram would be guarded by men allegedly neutered or castrated by the Dera.
It was when one of those girls raised her voice that the reality behind Dera was exposed. The first complainant in 2002 wrote an anonymous letter to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and then an FIR was filed by the CBI on the basis of that. The woman informed the police that she was called by Gurmeet into his cave on the intervening night of August 28 and 29, 1999 to grant Maafi (pardon). She was then threatened to surrender her body, which made her realise the rape which has been happening in the Ashram. After she complained to her brother, both escaped the cave rebelling against Gurmeet. Her brother was later killed.
Notably, for many of the devotees, rape is an act of pardon or Maafi. Several women believed it was a blessing. The second complainant also had a similar story. Growing up in Dera, she was one of the guards of the cave residence of Gurmeet. As he called her in, Gurmeet, whom they all call ‘Pitaji’ was lying naked in bed. Though she tried to run out in shock, she was subjected to rape as nobody came to her rescue.
Moreover, there are many women devotees who remained silent out of fear. Many, though married off in luxury, were forced to live without dignity.
While the investigation into the rape of his disciples was going on, Gurmeet allegedly killed a journalist, Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who was writing articles about Dera Sacha Sauda. Gurmeet also killed Dera Sacha Sauda manager Ranjit Singh blaming him for circulating the details of sexual exploitation of his disciples inside the Dera.
It was in 2017 that a CBI court found Gurmeet guilty of two counts of rape, and he has been serving a 20 years jail term. The Dera Sacha Sauda chief has received multiple paroles. Gurmeet got three parole in 2023, causing public outrage noting the seriousness of the offenses
