Dera chief Ram Rahim Singh released on 30-day parole for 16th time since conviction, walks out of Rohtak jail
Public Lokpal
May 26, 2026
Dera chief Ram Rahim Singh released on 30-day parole for 16th time since conviction, walks out of Rohtak jail
Rohtak: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Tuesday walked out of Sunaria jail in Rohtak after being granted a 30-day parole, marking the 16th time he has been released since his 2017 conviction in a rape case.
Ram Rahim, who is serving a 20-year sentence for raping two women disciples, will stay at the Sirsa headquarters of the Dera during the parole period, according to Dera spokesperson and advocate Jitender Khurana.
He had also received a 20-day parole on October 1, 2024, days before the Haryana assembly polls, besides a 21-day furlough in August 2024 and a three-week furlough in February 2022 ahead of the Punjab assembly elections.
Sikh organisations, including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, have previously criticised the repeated grant of parole and furlough to Ram Rahim.
In March, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Ram Rahim in the 2002 murder case of a journalist, seven years after a special CBI court had convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
In May 2024, the high court had also acquitted Ram Rahim and four others in the 2002 murder case of the sect's former manager, Ranjit Singh, overturning an earlier order of a special CBI court.
The Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda has a large support base across Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and other states, with significant influence in districts such as Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Hisar.
PTI