Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim, a rape convict, gets 50-day parole

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is lodged in Sunaria prison in Haryana's Rohtak district, has been granted 50-day parole.  In 2017, Singh was sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping his two disciples.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, convicted of rape and serving a 20-year prison sentence for the rape of two female followers, has been given a 50-day release period. He was earlier let out of jail on a 21-day parole in November 2023. Notably, last year, he was granted parole thrice.

Ram Rahim, 56, is well-known throughout Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. He has been granted parole from prison on many occasions for various reasons, including his request to see his sick mother.

He was sentenced to a 20-year jail term in 2017 for raping two disciples and later received life imprisonment in two murder cases, including the killings of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and Dera Manager Ranjit Singh in 2002.

Ram Rahim was also convicted of hatching a conspiracy to kill Ranjit Singh, a Dera manager in 2021. The Dera chief and three others were convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.

Regular parole may be granted to condemned convicts under the Haryana Good Conduct convicts (Temporary Release) Act, 2022. However, release is not granted to inmates convicted of repeated murders or under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

He was earlier let out of jail on a 21-day parole in November 2023. Last year, he had been granted parole thrice. The Dera chief had been granted a 40-day parole in January 2023. In October 2022 too, he was granted a 40-day parole. Prior to his October 2022 parole, he had come out of the prison on a month-long parole in June 2022 Besides, he was granted three weeks’ furlough from February 7, 2022.