Explanation by Sadhvis (service women in Dera who take care the baba)

 Dera Sacha Sauda is once again in the news with the continued abuse of women followers of the dera, better known as Sadhvis.  Surjeet Kaur, resident of Village Dunewala of Bathinda District, filed a petition with the High Court blaming the Dera for illegally detaining her daughter named Shaminder Kaur.

According to Surjeet Kaur, her family was once devout Sacha Sauda followers but an incident last year changed the perspective of her family towards the Dera.  Dera officials were asked to grant leave to Shaminder, a Sadhvi, for one day so she could attend the funeral of her father, but the management did not comply with the pleas of the family.  Recently, a program was once again organized at Surjeet Kaur’s residence in memory of her husband and the family’s fresh request to get Shaminder to attend the program also went in vain like last year.

This incident infuriated Surjeet Kaur’s family who in turn reported the incident to the High Court seeking orders to have their daughter released from the Dera.  Considering Surjeet Kaur’s petition, the High Court appointed a warrant officer to discharge Shaminder Kaur from Sacha Sauda premises.  Upon reaching the dera, the group led by Officer Ramandeep Singh met with several obstacles.  At their arrival, the lawyers and management of the dera severely interfered in processing the High Court order.  The group was forced to wait two hours only to find out that Shaminder had left the Dera just two days earlier to visit her maternal aunt at the Shah Satnam Nagar.

When the group reached her aunt’s residence, the door was found to be locked and the neighbors also did not know of the whereabouts of Shaminder’s aunt.  The faction then headed back towards the dera to search the women’s quarters but Shaminder was nowhere to be found.  Surjeet Kaur told the press that at this point, her family was badly humiliated by the dera management who also forced them out of the dera without considering the rules imposed by the court order.

Surjeet Kaur has claimed that it is possible that her daughter Shaminder Kaur might have been executed by the dera since her family broke allegiance with Dera Sacha Sauda.  In addition, Surjeet Kaur is a relative of Khatta Singh, the main witness in a murder case that is currently pending in court against Gurmeet Ram Rahim.  While talking to the press, Surjeet Kaur alleged that at one point, Dera Management asked her to present Khatta Singh if she wanted the Dera to reveal Shaminder Kaur’s whereabouts.