Listen To This Post
Chandigarh: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, walked out of the district jail in Sunaria village on Monday after being granted a 40-day parole.
He has been allowed to stay at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa during the parole period. This is the 15th time Ram Rahim has been released from prison on parole or furlough since his 2017 conviction.
Ram Rahim exited the Sunaria jail around 11:45 am in an SUV amid tight police security arrangements outside the prison premises. The parole has been granted ahead of the birth anniversary of Satnam Singh, the second guru of the Dera, which is observed annually on January 25 at the Sirsa headquarters and is considered the sect’s most significant religious event, drawing followers from across the country.
Ram Rahim was convicted by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Panchkula in August 2017 for raping two disciples and sentenced to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment. In 2019, he was also awarded life imprisonment for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.
In May 2024, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Ram Rahim and four others in the 2002 murder case of the sect’s former manager Ranjit Singh, citing “tainted and sketchy” investigation and setting aside a special CBI court’s life sentence order.
Despite repeated parole drawings, political and public scrutiny, the dera chief continues to receive temporary releases from prison ahead of key religious and political milestones.
