The people who emerged as 'heroes' in the Gurmeet Ram Rahim case

Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the head of Dera Sacha Sauda was sentenced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment earlier this week. We spoke to Ramesh Vinayak, the Editor of Hindustan Times Chandigarh, about various aspects of the case.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh being taken from Panchkula court to Rohtak jail, after he was pronounced guilty Source: Hindustan Times

Speaking to SBS Punjabi, Mr Vinayak said, "Essentially there are four heroes who must be commended for their role in achieving a conviction" for the rapist Gurmeet Ram Rahim":

 1. The CBI judge Jagdeep Singh, who emerged as a young, no-nonsense judge;

2. The two female victims who filed these charges (and Mr Vinayak said HT reporters have met them, but under current law, they are not permitted to reveal any personal details about them);

3. The families (especially the respective husbands) of the two female victims, who supported them throughout this long drawn trial; and,

4. CBI chief investigator Mr Satish Dagar, who persisted with the investigation despite acute pressure..

 In his interview with SBS Punjabi, Mr Ramesh Vinayak said "I'm personally aware of the immense pressure on Mr Dagar, but unwavering, he stuck on course."

 So does this conviction change the political set up in states like Punjab and Haryana, where alignments with Deras have heavily influenced the outcome of state elections? Hear what Mr Vinayak said about that, and also about the cases against another Dera chief, Rampal.

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