Rampal Singh Jatin , the self-styled godman who heads the Satlok Ashram in Haryana, was found guilty of murder in two separate cases today.
Rampal was convicted on the charges of murder in a 2006 case relating the death of a woman supporter. Rampal was also convicted on the charges of murder in a 2014 case that dealt with the deaths of four women and a child.
In both the cases, Rampal was charged under section 302 (murder) and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code.
The quantum of punishment will be announced on October 16 (in the case relating to the deaths of four women and a child) and October 17 (in the 2006 case relating to the death of a woman).
The guilty verdict was pronounced at the Hisar Central Jail. Rampal was not taken out of the prison. He was instead produced inside the makeshift court via video conferencing.
Born in September 1951, Rampal once worked as an engineer in Haryana’s irrigation department. He renounced Hinduism and adopted Kabir Panth, a sect based on the teachings of medieval period poet-saint Kabir, after meeting Swami Ramdevanand.
Rampal later founded the Satlok Ashram in Haryana’s Rohtak and rose to become one of the most prominent leaders of Kabir Panth sect.
Rampal was accused of murder in two separate cases. The first case was related to the death of a woman at the Satlok Ashram in 2006 during clashes between the followers of Rampal and those of the Arya Samaj.
In the second case, four women and a child had died near the same Satlok Ashram. The deaths took place in 2014 during clashes between Rampal’s supporters and security personnel, who had come to the Satlok Ashram in order to arrest the godman for the 2006 murder case.
Rampal was arrested on November 19, 2014 after thousands of security personnel laid siege to the Satlok Ashram. Rampal’s followers had resisted the previous attempts by police to arrest him.
