India guru rape: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh jailed for 10 years
. Indian media reported that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s followers had set a vehicle on fire just ahead of sentencing.
Violence after Friday’s verdict in Panchkula in northern Haryana state had killed some 38 people.
The self-styled holy man was found guilty of sexually assaulting two female followers.
Singh’s legal team has already said it will appeal against the verdict in the Punjab and Haryana high court.
Media reports said that prosecutors would be asking for a harsher sentence. They had called for a life term.
A lawyer for the victims said 50 women had come forward with allegations of rape and they would be seeking further investigation in the case.
“We believe there are at least 48 more victims who were sexually abused and who may have been killed or are too scared to come out and testify against Ram Rahim,” lawyer Utsav Singh Bains told AFP.
Ram Rahim Singh denies charges of murder in two cases due to be heard next month.
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Following the sentencing, the chief minister of Haryana state, where Singh’s ashram is located, called an emergency meeting.
A curfew has already been imposed in several areas of Haryana and Punjab states, while the capital Delhi is on alert.