5 dead as India guru's backers riot after rape verdict

A hospital doctor says five people have been killed in riots by supporters of the leader of a quasi-religious sect, angry after a north Indian courthouse declared him guilty of raping two followers in 2002. Police used water cannon in an attempt to disperse the crowd. Thousands of officers and paramilitary troops were deployed in the town.

The verdict has sparked fears of violence by tens of thousands of his supporters who had gathered outside the courthouse in the town of Panchkula. Mobs also set fire to government buildings, and attacked police and TV journalists, smashing the windshields of media vans and breaking broadcast equipment..