Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the leader of Dera Sacha Sauda, is incarcerated for twenty years after raping two of his followers. In less than two months, he had been granted parole twice.
Chief of Dera Sacha Sauda Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is currently incarcerated following his conviction in a case of rape and murder, was given a 50-day release period on Friday. In November 2023, a 21-day vacation was already given to him. On November 21 of last year, he had then left the Sunaria jail in the Rohtak district of Haryana. That marked Ram Rahim’s third 2023 jail term extension.
Prior to this, on July 30, the Dera chief had left the Sunaria jail after being granted a 30-day release. He had received a 40-day parole earlier in January. Additionally, he was given a 40-day parole in October 2022. He had been released from prison in June of last year on a month-long parole, which preceded his October parole. In addition, news agency PTI stated that he was given a furlough of three weeks beginning on February 7, 2022.
Currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for the rape of two of his students, Ram Rahim Singh. The Dera chief and four other people were found guilty in 2021 of planning to assassinate Dera manager Ranjit Singh. In 2019, the Dera chief and three other people were found guilty of killing a journalist over sixteen years prior.
Harjinder Singh Dhami, the president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, had voiced his vehement opposition to the Haryana government’s decision to give the Dera chief a 21-day furlough, claiming that he is serving a sentence for horrible crimes including rape and murder. According to Dhami, it was creating a climate of distrust within the Sikh community.
The Dera chairman was frequently granted temporary parole from jail, according to PTI, but governments were not paying attention to the Sikh community’s calls for the release of Sikh inmates, or “Bandi Singhs.”
The Delhi High Court sent notice in December of last year regarding a claim for an injunction brought by YouTuber Shyam Meera Singh against Dera Sacha Sauda founder Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. Gurmeet Ram Rahim had requested that a video that Singh had published be taken down.
The Delhi High Court ordered a journalist to remove a video from social media on January 10 that featured derogatory remarks about Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the leader of Dera Sacha Sauda.