An Indian judge on Monday handed a 10-year jail sentence to self-styled ’godman’ Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, whose followers went on a deadly rampage after he was convicted of rape on Friday.
“The court has ordered 10-year jail term for the accused,” Ram Niwas, senior bureaucrat in charge of law and order in Haryana, told Reuters.
Read: Indian city barricaded as ´rape guru´ awaits sentencing
Supporters of Singh’s cult resorted to violent protests last week, which killed at least 38 and injured more than 200 in Haryana state, after a local court found him guilty of raping two women in a case dating back to 2002.
The cult has a vast rural following in the states of Punjab and Haryana. (Reuters)