The Dera Sacha Sauda, currently headed by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan, who was convicted of rape on 25 August, is a den of horrors that keeps giving.
Apart from reports of women being raped by Singh and the act being described by the euphemism "pitaji ki maafi" in his secretive gufa or cave, at least two instances of murder and the forced castration of hundreds of devotees have come to light, all allegedly perpetrated under Singh's instructions.
Shortly before the release of Singh's controversial movie MSG: Messenger of God, a former member of the Dera accused the spiritual guru of forcing around 400 men in his ashrams to undergo surgical castration.
In a chilling report in The Quint, Hansraj Chauhan describes the ordeal he went through as a 19-year-old in the year 2000, when he was drugged by a compounder with a glass of Pepsi a Dera Sacha Sauda hospital in Gurusar Modiya in Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar. He woke up two days later to find his testicles wrapped in a bundle of bandages. Since then, he's not been able to indulge in sexual activities for the past 17 years.
His predicament, allegedly, was shared by hundreds of other premis (or beloveds, as the male sadhus at the Dera are called), who were spiked with drugs and forced to undergo such a procedure in a bid to keep them celibate and pure. Castration, the men were told, would allow them to get closer to god. The CBI is currently looking into these complaints of castration.
Ironically, while this sterilisation drive was enforced by the moral police at the ashrams, the chief of the sect presumably indulged his carnal desires, as the stories of several women being raped would attest. If the women were emotionally blackmailed into keeping their silence, the men were allegedly given some drugs every morning to keep them distracted and make them lose control over their will.
The women at the ashram were also kept away from one another and no one was allowed mobile phone or any access to newspapers. Under this strict regime of surveillance, the authorities of the Dera had a free-for-all. Money would be raised by auctioning the vegetables grown at the farm of the Dera ashrams — with a basket of cauliflowers being sold for several crores of rupees.
Male Child Abuse Survivors
Praveen Minj(01 of05)
Open Image Modal"I never really understood it then, but now when I look back at my life I understand how much I really suffered. Sadly, more than the abuse, it was the how the trauma of it changed me as a person.
As a male child I was always expected to be strong. My mother’s suffering in her life, forced me to hide my own pain and take the onus of healing, upon myself. Eventually, this kept on adding to my baggage of constant self-victimizing , self criticism, self-doubt, and self-disbelief." (credit:Photographer Deepti Asthana/Courtesy The Hands of Hope Foundation)
Abhhydday Paathak(02 of05)
Open Image Modal"Sometimes the very wounds that cripple us hold the key to our healing. So here I am, breaking the silence.
In the attic of my childhood, I lost the child within me. I was 5 when my fairy tale turned into a nightmare. Like the caged, mute animals, digging canals to escape the predator, I too found myself, dodging the predator who terrorized my body and soul almost every day. Ironically, he was an officer charged with the responsibility to safeguard me. I know rationally that none of it was my fault. But, the threats then didn’t allow me to see otherwise." (credit:Photographer Deepti Asthana/Courtesy The Hands of Hope Foundation)
Mohammed Ali(03 of05)
Open Image ModalAli was 9 years old when he was first sexually abused at a railway station in Mumbai. His abusers were not one but many--older boys, cops, drug addicts, whoever got hold of him. (credit:Photographer Deepti Asthana/Courtesy The Hands of Hope Foundation)
Rajeev Pandey(04 of05)
Open Image Modal"I was taken to a dark empty room in the huge family house. He told me the medicine he had would only work if I kept it a secret. He then pulled down my pants, and abused me. It hurt me no end, but I bravely bore it. After all, I was on my way to becoming like my father.
The abuse continued. So did the pain." (credit:Photographer Deepti Asthana/Courtesy The Hands of Hope Foundation)
Roshan Kokane(05 of05)
Open Image Modal"I was 10-years-old when I was sexually abused for the first time. I was napping in the noon on my bed after a tiring day at school and suddenly opened my eyes to the sensation of someone trying to physically hurt me. I was scared, shocked and I didn’t move a bit. Fear and confusion gripped me that afternoon.
The abuser was unfortunately someone from my family. Every time I was alone, they would touch me in the most inappropriate ways and force me to do the same with them. They would do it as frequent as one or twice a week." (credit:Photographer Deepti Asthana/Courtesy The Hands of Hope Foundation)