RAM Pal Awarded Life Sentence For Murder

RAM PAL ,a controversial self styled religious leader , has been  sent  to  jail  for  life  after he was found  guilty  of  murder .The 67 years  old   Ram pal  having   a large  number of  followers  and  belonging  to Haryana, claims to be a spiritual successor and an incarnation of  Saint  Kabir who  preached a casteless society in India during  the 15th century .Rampal and his 26  followers were convicted on October 15 by a sessions court in Hisar in two separate cases of murder and other offences. The court held Rampal and his followers guilty of two murders and other offences, including wrongful confinement of people at his Satlok Ashram in Hisar, Haryana.The cases were filed by two men who alleged that their wives were murdered inside Rampal’s ashram at Barwala village where they had been held captive by  Rampal and his followers. The conviction and sentencing come after a nearly four-year-long trial of the in a makeshift court inside the Hisar district jail  where  Rampal and his followers have been lodged since their arrest in November 2014.Rampal was arrested after his 12-acre ashram was stormed by policemen. His followers were armed with stones, batons and guns. The days-long siege included Rampal using devotees as human shields. In August last year, he was found not guilty of illegally confining thousands of followers and obstructing officials in 2014 when they stormed his ashram. Six people were killed as his devotees turned into a private army to prevent his arrest; hundreds were injured.(with inputs from The Pioneer )