Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's "adopted daughter" Honeypreet's ex-husband Vishwas Gupta on Friday accused them of having illicit relations and said their father-daughter relationship was a sham to fool followers and others.
"Which father makes his daughter sleep on his bed? She always used to be with him," said Mr Gupta, since divorced from Honeypreet.
"She never slept with me. Every night, she was with him (Ram Rahim). The sect chief virtually made me a captive and did not allow my (then) wife Honeypreet to come to me," Mr Gupta told the media in Chandigarh.
Mr Gupta, whose family was a staunch dera follower, was married to Honeypreet in 2009 at the behest of Ram Rahim. Honeypreet's real name is Priyanka Taneja and she hails from Fatehabad town in Haryana. Mr Gupta moved the court for divorce in 2011.
He claimed that he saw Ram Rahim and Honeypreet in a compromising situation in the Dera chief's 'gufa' or private accommodation on the sprawling campus near Sirsa town in Haryana.
The baba threatened to get me and my family eliminated if I uttered anything about what I had seen. My life was ruined.Vishwas Gupta, Honeypreet’s ex-husband
"The baba threatened to get me and my family eliminated if I uttered anything about what I had seen. My life was ruined," said Mr Gupta, who has since remarried.
Mr Gupta said Ram Rahim also got him and his parents booked in a dowry case, and even ordered that he (Gupta) be eliminated.
"After the threat, I left for my home. Two guards (of Ram Rahim) were given orders to eliminate me. We left the Dera in July 2011 and shifted to Panchkula. My father had sold all our properties and invested in the Dera campus. In Panchkula, I was trailed by Dera followers," claimed Mr Gupta, whose grandfather was a legislator from Gharaunda in Haryana and father a government engineer.
Mr Gupta claimed the Dera chief forced him and his family to publicly seek forgiveness from him.
Honeypreet, in her mid-30s, is on the run since August 25, hours after Ram Rahim was convicted by a CBI Special Court in Panchkula for the rape of two female followers. He was sentenced to 20-year rigorous imprisonment and is now lodged in the District Jail at Sunaria near Rohtak.
The Haryana Police have booked Honeypreet on charges of inciting violence, sedition, and conspiracy to help Ram Rahim escape after his conviction.
She tops the list of 43 Dera activists on the 'most wanted' list of the Haryana Police. Honeypreet has been the closest aide of Ram Rahim since 2007.
The police is on her trail for nearly a month and raids have been conducted in Nepal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Haryana and other states.
Honeypreet has been Ram Rahim's heroine in five films he directed, produced and acted in, in three years. Her clout was said to be even more than the baba's family, including wife, son and two daughters.
Also read: Ram Rahim Made Us Play Big Boss in Dera: Honeypreet’s Ex-Husband
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)