CBI records statement of Ram Rahim in forced castration case

NEW DELHI: The CBI has recorded the statement of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in connection with a case of alleged forced castration of his 400 followers.

With a special court's permission, agency officials yesterday recorded Singh's statement at a Rohtak prison where he is serving 20-year jail term for raping two sadhvis, CBI sources said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered the case in January, 2015, on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The FIR was registered against Singh and others under various charges, including criminal conspiracy for voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means, for alleged castration of 400 devotees at the Sirsa-based Dera.

The high court orders came on a writ petition filed by a Dera follower in 2012, demanding a CBI inquiry and compensation for his castration at the Dera in 2000, a CBI spokesperson had earlier said.

The official had said the petitioner, Hansraj Chauhan, has alleged that around 400 male devotees belonging to many states including Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan were castrated at the Dera headquarters after its head falsely claimed that the "castration would lead to realisation of God through him".