Have mercy, you are a Sant Kabir bhakt: Rampal to judge

Self-styled godman Rampal had a breakdown after he was given to life imprisonment in Satlok Ashram case by a Hisar court. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Rampal and sentence all the others accused a life imprisonment as well.

Rampal started crying immediately after he heard the sentence and fell on his knees. He also told the judge to be merciful towards him as he was a "Kabir bhakt".

He said, Aap toh Kabir bhakt ho, kuch to reham kar dete. The judge, however, looked at him and went out of the courtroom after the proceeding was over.

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According to sources, before the proceedings began, the judge told Sant Rampal that he loves Sant Kabir and often listens to Kabir ke dohe.

Born Rampal Singh Jatin 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. Rampal and 14 others were today awarded a life sentence by a court in Hisar, Haryana.

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. Yesterday, he was sentenced to life imprisonment along with 15 others accused in the second 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.

Rampal has also been renamed to kaidi (prisoner) number 1005. According to reports, Rampal even demanded to be kaidi number 1008 but his wishes were not approved. Godman Rampal has now been given the responsibility to take care of the environment of the jail and will be planting trees across the area.

With inputs from Satender Chauhan