Gurmeet Ram Rahim Granted Parole for the 12th Time

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been granted parole again.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief, serving a 20-year sentence in Sunaria Jail, Rohtak, Haryana, for raping two of his disciples, has been granted parole again on Tuesday. This time, Ram Rahim will be released from prison for 30 days. The Rohtak administration released Ram Rahim secretly from jail at 5:26 AM on January 28, 2025. It is reported that he will be staying at the Sirsa Dera this time.

12th Parole in 4 Years

This is Ram Rahim Singh's twelfth parole in the last four years. After being sentenced to 20 years in prison in August 2017 for raping two of his disciples, this will be his first time spending 10 days at his Dera in Sirsa. Subsequently, he will be staying in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh. He was last granted a 20-day parole, four days before the Haryana elections last year on October 5th. His ability to influence the votes of his followers had earned him patronage from political leaders and parties in Punjab and Haryana for nearly two decades.

Ram Rahim Imprisoned in Rohtak's Sunaria Jail

Last time, he sought parole citing the death anniversary of his father, Magar Singh, which falls on October 5th and is observed as Parmarthi Diwas. Before October last year, the Haryana government had granted him a 21-day leave in August, which ended on September 2nd. Ram Rahim is currently incarcerated in the high-security Sunaria Jail in Rohtak, 250 kilometres from the state capital, Chandigarh.

Special CBI Court Delivered the Sentence

Previously, the High Court had rejected Ram Rahim's parole plea to attend the wedding ceremony of his adopted daughters. The self-styled godman was sentenced to 20 years in prison in August 2017 for raping two women. In 2019, a special CBI court in Panchkula also sentenced him and three others to life imprisonment for the murder of a journalist 16 years prior.