Hindustan Times via Getty Images
The head of the India-based socio-spiritual organisation Dera Sacha Sauda, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
According to several reports from the Rohtak jail, where rapist Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is lodged, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief broke down and begged for mercy as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court judge Jagdeep Singh read out his verdict, sentencing him to 10 years in jail for the rape and criminal intimidation of two women.
At the library of the District Jail in Sunaria near Rohtak in Haryana, the defence counsel argued that Singh had several charitable institutions and had health issues. It was then that Singh broke down and pleaded with folded hands, IANS reported.
He sat down on the floor and wept and had to be taken away by jail wardens. News18 reported that he even requested that his blood pressure be checked, which was done, and he was found to be fine.
There were shoot-at-sight orders around the District Jail at Sunaria after violence on Friday that killed scores of people after the self-styled godman was convicted.
#BREAKING -- #RamRahimSingh asked for his BP to be checked and refused to leave after sentence was pronounced #10YearsForMSG | @sanket pic.twitter.com/UaRYMZRnxX
— News18 (@CNNnews18) August 28, 2017
After #RamRahimSentencing, rapist Gurmeet Singh started crying, begged for mercy, sat on CBI court floor, refused to move, had to be dragged
— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) August 28, 2017