65-year-old follower says, “Will never visit dera again”

She added, “I was unwilling to come here at all, but was forced by the dera incharge at Kurukshetra.”

A day after the violence in Panckula that killed 31, a woman dera follower, Shanti Devi (65), said, “I was unwilling to come here at all, but was forced by the dera incharge at Kurukshetra.” She was detained at the Sector-5 police station too.

Damage after the clash between dera followers and security force at Sector 3 in Panchkula on August 26. (Anil Dayal/HT)

“The local dera incharge visited my house several times and forced me to come to Panckula and promised that we will get a glimpse of Pitaji,” she added. Shanti, who spent her night in the police station and was let off later, said she hadn’t eaten since last night.

She added, “Now I am regretting it. Why did I come here? Anything could have happened to me. Even my family members stopped me from going, but the dera incharge insisted. There are several other women too who came with me from Kurukshetra.”

Shanti is a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda for the past two decades. She said she will never visit the dera in Kurukshetra again since the chief was in jail for rape now.

Another minor girl, Suman, who came with her mother from Kurukshetra was also let off by police. But her mother is still detained.

“We have not eaten anything and my family members stopped us from coming to Panchkula, but the local dera authorities forced my mother to visit. I do not know when they will let her off now,” she said.