Rape accused godman Ram Rahim Singh approaches HC

Agencies
September 25, 2017

Chandigarh, Sept 25: Jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh today moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, challenging a special CBI court's verdict sentencing him to 20 years in prison for raping two disciples.

The CBI court in Panchkula on August 28 had sentenced Ram Rahim to 20 years in prison after his conviction.

"We have filed an appeal today in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Through this, we have challenged the order of the CBI court," defence counsel Vishal Garg Narwana said here.

He said the CBI verdict has been challenged on several grounds.

"One of the grounds was that there was a delay of more than six years in recording the statements of the women (victims) by the CBI after the incident," the defence counsel said.

The CBI had claimed that the two women followers were sexually exploited in 1999 and the agency recorded their statement in 2005, Garg said.

He alleged that the CBI had also concealed some portion of the victims' statement.

Ram Rahim was convicted by the special CBI court on August 25, following which violence and arson had erupted in Panchkula and Sirsa districts which left 41 people dead and scores of injured.

The judge pronounced two sentences of 10 years rigorous imprisonment in each of the two rapes that date back to 2002.

The controversial sect head is currently lodged in Sunaria jail in Rohtak district of Panchkula.

In April 2002, an anonymous letter was written to the then chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, complaining about the alleged sexual exploitation of woman followers at the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa.

In May 2002, the high court directed the Sirsa district and session judge to probe the allegations in the letter. In September 2002, the high court handed over the matter to the CBI after the district court indicated the possibility of sexual exploitation

In December 2002, the CBI registered a case of rape, criminal intimidation against Ram Rahim.

The CBI filed a charge sheet against the Dera head in Ambala court in July 2007. The charge sheet mentioned the sexual exploitation of two 'sadhvis' between 1999 and 2001.

In September 2008, the special CBI court framed charges of rape and criminal intimidation against Ram Rahim.

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News Network
May 26,2020

Kasaragod, May 26: Amid relaxation of COVID-19 lockdown norms, Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) and vocational higher secondary education (VHSE) examinations resumed in Kerala on Tuesday.

Schools in the state maintained social distancing norms and other precautionary measures amid the examination. Hand sanitisers were also provided at the centres while wearing face masks was made mandatory for all students.

Students at VHSS Manacaud High School in Thiruvananthapuram were encouraged to follow social distancing norms while they also underwent thermal screening before entering the examination centre.

In Kerala, VHSE and SSLC exams began today. While VHSE is scheduled in the morning, the SSLC exam is held in the afternoon session.

Senior secondary exams are scheduled to begin in the state from May 27.

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News Network
July 16,2020

Noida, Jul 16: A key aide of 1993 Mumbai blasts case convict Abu Salem who worked in his illegal property business in NCT of Delhi has been arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh police, officials said on Thursday.

Gajendra Singh, who was also close to gangster Khan Mubarak, was nabbed in Mumbai late Wednesday night by the Noida unit of the STF, they said.

"Gajendra Singh had taken Rs 1.80 crore from a Delhi-based businessman in 2014 in a property-related case. When he was pressured to return the money, Singh had Khan Mubarak's shooters open fire at the businessman in sector 18 of Noida," Additional Superintendent of Police, STF, Raj Kumar Mishra said.

The businessman was in his car when the attack took place, and he narrowly escaped, the officials said.

Mishra said Singh had paid the shooters Rs 10 lakh, and the agency has cracked the money trail of the transaction.

"Gajendra Singh also invested Abu Salem and Khan Mubarak's money into properties in Delhi-NCR," the officer added.

Singh was wanted in a couple of cases registered at a police station in Noida where he has been lodged now for further proceedings, the STF said. 

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Agencies
January 5,2020

New Delhi, Jan 5: A masked mob on Sunday entered the Sabarmati Hostel on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus and assaulted several students and professors with sticks and rods.

"I have been brutally attacked by goons wearing masks. I am bleeding. I was brutally beaten up," JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh told reporters.

She has been admitted to the AIIMS here for treatment.

Several other students were also injured in the incident.

In a video of the incident, a group of goons with their faces covered can be seen assaulting students with wooden sticks and rods.

A tweet from the official handle of the JNUSU said, "Sabarmati Hostel: right now. They are beating the students who are inside. Knocking on doors with rods. People are jumping from balconies. #SOSJNU #EmergencyinJNU."

"Professors who were trying to protect us have been beaten up. These are unknown ABVP goons, not all are students, they have covered their faces, and they are moving towards the hotels near the West Gate. Stay alert. Make human chains. Protect each other. #SOSJNU #EmergencyinJNU," another tweet added.

Meanwhile, the ABVP's JNU unit claimed in a tweet: "Emergency in JNU. Leftist goons of JNU accompained with their cadre from other universities have crossed every limit. They have proceeded with unimaginable violence on ABVP activists of JNU."

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