A journalist exposing rape claims against Dera chief was killed. His son awaits justice 24 years on

Anshul Chhatrapati grew up knowing his father was different.

The name he inherited from him was itself a giveaway – Chhatrapati, a Sanskrit word for sovereign ruler, is most commonly associated with 17th century Maratha king, Chhatrapati Shivaji. That it was being used as a family name in Sirsa, a town in Haryana on the border with Punjab, was highly unusual.

“It was during his college days,” explained Anshul, speaking of his father Ram Chander Chhatrapati, “that one of his teachers had given him the title Chhatrapati for his leadership qualities and passion”.

It was Ram Chander Chhatrapati’s passion for truth and journalism that eventually cost him his life.

In October 2002, two assailants shot at him outside his home in Sirsa. As they fled, one was nabbed by the police. They turned out to be followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim, a self-styled godman who had set up a religious organisation called the Dera Sacha Sauda, which had grown politically influential on the back of its following among the Dalits of Punjab and Haryana.

Ram Chander Chhatrapati died of his injuries a month later at the age of 52. In the run-up to the murder, he had been relentlessly publishing stories about rape allegations against Ram Rahim....

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