Hindu godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh gets 20-year jail for rapes

Agencies
August 28, 2017

Chandigarh, Aug 28: A special CBI court on Monday sentenced Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to 20-years of rigorous imprisonment in separate cases of rape of his two disciples. 

Amid unprecedented security in Punjab and Haryana, CBI judge Jagdeep Singh was flown in from Panchkula to the Rohtak jail this afternoon where a library was turned into a make-shift courtroom for the extraordinary hearing in the case.

No major incident of violence or arson was reported from Haryana after today’s pronouncement of sentence. Both states continue to be on high alert. The court ordered a fine of Rs 15 lakh in each of the two cases out of which Rs 14 lakh will be given to each of the victims.

The sect chief broke down as the quantum of sentence was read out to him by the Judge. He sought forgiveness with folded hands, said sources. The Dera head felt uneasy during the hearing after which doctors of the PGI Rohtak, who was on stand by, were asked to examine the convict, reports said. 

There was a heavy deployment of Army and para military around the jail complex and only a few were permitted inside the courtroom.

The Judge ordered 10-year jail term in each of the two cases which meant that the sentence will run consecutively, not concurrently, over a span of 20-years. Both the defence and prosecution were allowed 10-minutes each by the CBI Judge for final comments. Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s lawyers sought leniency in punishment from the Judge on grounds that his client was sick and had done a lot of philanthropic work. 

The CBI counsel on the other side sought maximum punishment. Earlier on Friday, the Judge had convicted the sect head for the rape of two women between 1999 and 2002. His conviction led to unprecedented violence in Panchkula and Sirsa after hoodlums of the Dera went berserk resorting to large scale violence and arson which consumed 38 lives and injured 278 persons.

Haryana CM ML Khattar has appealed for peace. The Army is out in Sirsa and Rohtak to prevent a repeat of Friday’s violence. Authorities said they will not hesitate to fire gun shots at people who violate orders and disrupt law and order. In Punjab, curfew has been lifted in five out of 10 districts. 

Night curfew continues for the time being in Mansa, Bathinda, Faridkot, Barnala and Samna, and some parts of Patiala.

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News Network
July 26,2020

New Delhi, Jul 26: India reported a spike of 48,661 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

The total COVID-19 positive cases stand at 13,85,522, including 4,67,882 active cases, 8,85,577 cured/discharged/migrated, it added.
With 705 deaths in the last 24 hours, the cumulative toll reached 32,063.

Maharashtra has reported 3,66,368 coronavirus cases, the highest among states and Union Territories in the country.

A total of 2,06,737 cases have been reported from Tamil Nadu till now, while Delhi has recorded a total of 1,29,531 coronavirus cases.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 4,42,263 samples were tested for coronavirus on Saturday and overall 1,62,91,331 samples have been tested so far.

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News Network
May 11,2020

New Delhi, May 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday chaired a fresh round of consultation with chief ministers on ways to strengthen the COVID-19 containment strategy and stepping up of economic activities in a calibrated manner as the 54-day nationwide lockdown nears an end.

Large-scale movement of migrant workers from urban to rural India and the problems their return to home states may cause in restarting the economy will also be among the focus areas during the fifth virtual interaction between the prime minister and chief ministers since the outbreak of the deadly virus in the country.

There will be an effort to ensure that all participating chief ministers get an opportunity to air their views during the interaction, as some of the CMs had complaint that they were not allowed to put forth their views during the last interaction on April 27.

At a meeting on Sunday with Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, state chief secretaries told him that "while protection is required from COVID-19, economic activities also need to be stepped up in a calibrated manner", according to an official statement.       

With thousands of migrant workers taking special trains to go back to their home states, the restarting of industrial activities will prove to be a challenge for states though several relaxations have been made in labour laws to increase factory output.    

The meet is also likely to discuss efforts to convert 'red' zones with high COVID-19 case load into 'orange' or 'green' zones.       The prime minister interacted with the chief ministers last on April 27. Days after the meeting, the central government had extended the lockdown by two more weeks till May 17 to arrest the spread of the virus, but gave several relaxations in economic activities and movement of people.

The nationwide lockdown has been in force since March 25 to contain the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 2200 people, and afflicted more than 67,000 in the country.

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News Network
June 26,2020

New Delhi, Jun 26: With the highest single-day spike of 17,296 COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 count reached 4,90,401 on Friday, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

The country also saw 407 deaths in the last 24 hours, which pushed the death toll to 15,301.

The total number of cases includes 1,89,463 active cases, 2,85,637cured/discharged/migrated cases, as per the MoHFW.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of samples tested up to June 25 is 77,76,228; the number of samples tested on 25 June is 2,15,446.

Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state in the country with 1,47,741 cases. The active cases in the state are 63,357. The number of people cured or discharged stands at 77,453 while the death toll is at 6,931.

Delhi has so far reported 73,780 cases. The active cases in the national capital stood at 26,586. While the cured and discharged numbers stood at 44,765. The death toll in the city is 2,429.

Tamil Nadu has so far reported 70,977. With active cases at 30,067 and the number of cured or discharged at 39,999, while the death toll stood at 911.

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