Jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim again granted 40-day parole

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, serving a 20-year sentence for rape and murder convictions, has been granted a 40-day parole in Haryana. This marks yet another temporary release, drawing renewed criticism from Sikh organisations and opposition groups

Chandigarh: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples and is lodged in the Sunaria jail in Haryana’s Rohtak, was again granted a 40-day parole, said sources on Sunday.

His latest parole comes months after he was granted a 40-day parole in August last year.

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Singh is serving a 20-year jail term, sentenced in 2017 for raping two of his disciples.

The Dera chief and three others were also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.

Besides parole in August last year, he was also granted a 21-day furlough in April and a 30-day parole in January, ahead of the February 5 Delhi assembly polls.

Similarly, he was allowed a 20-day parole on October 1, 2024, days before the October 5 Haryana assembly polls.

In August 2024, Singh was granted a 21-day furlough. He was also permitted a three-week furlough from February 7, 2022, barely two weeks before the Punjab assembly polls.

Prior to his latest parole, Singh has come out of prison 14 times since being convicted in 2017.

Sikh organisations, such as Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, have in the past criticised the grant of relief to Singh.

On many of the 13 occasions in the past, when Singh was out of jail, he remained at the Dera’s ashram in Uttar Pradesh’s Bagpat district.

The Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda has a number of followers in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and other states. In Haryana, the Dera has a sizable number of followers in many districts, including Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Hisar.