The Haryana government on Tuesday granted a 40-day parole to Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief, who is a convict in rape and murder cases. This development comes around three months after the self-styled godman was previously granted a 21-day furlough.
On Tuesday morning, Ram Rahim was released from Sunaria Jail in Rohtak and proceeded to his Dera Ashram in Sirsa. This is reportedly the 14th time he has walked out of prison since 2017.
In 2017, Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting two of his female disciples. In 2019, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief, along with three others, was convicted for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.
Rahim was awarded a life sentence for the murder of his manager, Ranjit Singh, in 2002. However, he and four other accused were acquitted in May 2024, citing “tainted and sketchy” investigations in the matter.
Earlier this year, he was granted a 20-day parole in January, followed by a 21-day furlough on April 9.
In 2022, he was released from prison on three separate occasions: once for 21 days in February during the Punjab assembly elections, again in June for a month when civic body polls took place in Haryana, and later in October for 40 days during the Haryana by-elections. Even earlier, in October 2020, he had been out on parole for 40 days during the Haryana assembly elections.
However, he wasn’t allowed to take part in any election activities – no speeches, no campaigning, and he couldn’t even stay in the states while the elections were going on.
