india

Updated: Sep 01, 2017 18:50 IST

Rape convict Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim kept screaming all the time and did not eat anything when he was brought to Rohtak’s Sunariya jail on August 25, says a prisoner now out on bail.

Dalit activist Swadesh Kirad who had been in the same jail for the past nine months and came out on bail on Wednesday, said he was locked in a high security cell adjacent to Ram Rahim’s and could hear him scream at night.

“He would say things like ‘What is my fault, what have I done?’ He would cry in the night and request authorities to not lock him in the cell because he feels afraid,” Kirad told reporters.

A CBI court on August 28 sentenced the self-styled godman to 20 years in prison and fined him Rs 30 lakh for raping two disciples.

Used to a lavish life, Ram Rahim demanded bottled water, which was provided to him from the jail canteen, Kirad added. “All prisoners have their accounts in jail. He was given bottled mineral water from jail canteen after opening his account. He would not eat jail food, but had fruits that were given to him as per jail manual,” he said.

On the day of sentence, the 50-year-old Dera chief was so depressed that he could not even walk, Kirad claimed. “Since then, he has maintained a low profile and has not eaten much.”

He said the Dera chief wears a capri and T-shirt inside jail, though jail superintendent Sunil Sangwan had on the day of his sentence said they would not let him wear his personal clothes anymore.

Kirad said due to high security in Rohtak jail after the Dera chief was brought there, other prisoners felt like “they were jailed inside the jail”. “All our rights were suspended. We could not meet our families, not talk to them on phone like we used to every day for five minutes and not go for court hearings. My bail was sanctioned by high court on August 24, but I had to stay for longer,” he said.

Kirad eventually came out of jail on August 30.

Jail authorities have so far refused to give any information on the Dera chief.

Last week, 38 people were killed in the violent clashes in Panchkula and Sirsa between Dera followers and security personnel after a CBI court found Singh guilty in the 15-year-old rape cases.