Just 10-days before his conviction in a rape case, Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh celebrated his 50th birthday on Independence Day in grand style cutting a giant 500-kg cake as part of the week-long birthday bash in Sirsa. The cream cake, about 18-feet long and 6 feet high, was ferried towards him in a camouflaged decorated vehicle. The sect chief pulled out a sword and cut the cake as the congregation in Sirsa burst out in celebration.

Today, he was sobbing and seeking forgiveness in the court. His bling attire is all gone. After his 10-year sentencing today by the CBI Judge, he was handed over two sets of jail clothing. He’s now Quadi no. 1997.

Sources said, soon after the CBI Judge pronounced the 10-year jail term, Gurmeet Ram Rahim broke down. He folded his hands and asked the Judge to forgive him. Reports said the sect chief squatted in the designated place he was assigned to stand in. He would not leave until the jail wardens were called in.

Until Friday, the Dera chief enjoyed Z plus security provided to him by the government. Today, he’s inside the jail barracks. The sect’s multiple sources of revenue, including from his 5-movies and from FMCG products in the market, accumulate in hundreds of crores of rupees. But the sect chief will now earn only a meagre daily wage and will be required to work inside the jail like any other prisoners. He showed signs of failing health inside the library-turned courtroom. Doctors from the PGI in Rohtak were stand-by to deal with any issue arising out of his health.

His birthday, marked as golden jubilee celebration, saw ostentation, glitz, glamour and hordes of VIP bowing before him. Haryana CM Khattar’s cabinet colleague Ram Bilas Sharma, who visited the sect during the celebrations, went down on his knees, then lay on the floor with his hands folded stretched towards him as if paying obeisance. A Rs 51 lakh cheque followed. That clout and more appears to have vanished for Quadi No. 1997.

Dera chief Ram Rahim Singh is now Quadi no. 1997