Indian court sentences 'god man' to 10 years in prison

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was found him guilty of raping two women in a case dating back to 2002. Photograph: Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images

Self-styled “god man” Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, whose followers went on a deadly rampage after he was convicted of rape on Friday, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime.

“The court has ordered 10-year jail term for the accused,” Ram Niwas, senior bureaucrat in charge of law and order in Haryana, told Reuters.

Supporters of Singh’s cult staged violent protests last week, which killed at least 38 and injured more than 200 in Haryana state, after a local court found him guilty of raping two women in a case dating back to 2002.

The cult has a vast rural following in the states of Punjab and Haryana