The Cine and Television Artists Association of India and the Indian Film and Television Directors Association have cancelled the work permits of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on grounds of “criminality and moral turpitude”, ANI reported on Saturday.
On August 28, a Central Bureau of Investigation court sentenced Singh to 20 years in prison for raping two of his followers in 2002. It had convicted him on August 25. Following the verdict, there was widespread violence in Haryana, Delhi and Punjab that left 30 people dead and more than 250 injured. Thirteen followers of Dera Sacha Sauda have since been arrested.
The CBI had filed a chargesheet against him in 2007. Ever since Judge Jagdeep Singh, who pronounced the verdict, took charge as the CBI judge in April 2016, more than 100 hearings have been held in the case.
In 2002, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered a case to be registered against Singh after anonymous letters were circulated, claiming that the self-styled godman had raped at least two of his female followers.
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