Ram Rahim, a rape convict, will get out of jail once more—his ninth parole in four years
New Delhi: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the leader of Dera Sacha Sauda, who was meant to be serving a 20-year prison sentence for raping two women, has been granted parole once again. This is Ram Rahim Singh’s eighth parole in the previous 24 months and his ninth in the last four years. Singh has been free for 50 days.
Ram Rahim Singh, who is officially detained at Sunaria Jail in the Rohtak region of Haryana, was granted parole three times in the last year alone, totaling 91 days. In order to attend the birth anniversary of former Dera head Shah Satnam, he was granted freedom for thirty days in July, forty days in January, and twenty-one days in November.
On that particular occasion, Singh was seen “celebrating” by using a sword to cut a birthday cake. Rahim Singh was seen slicing a cake and said, “Got a chance after five years to celebrate like this… so I should cut at least five cakes,” in a video that went viral on the internet. It’s the first cake, this one!”
The Arms Act forbids the open exhibition of weapons, and slicing a cake with a sword is one example.
Ram Rahim’s release in January 2023 caused a stir, especially as Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that parole was his “right” as long as all the formalities were completed.
“I had no idea Ram Rahim was granted parole. However, if he has, it is only right because he did so after going through all the steps. “I won’t get involved in that,” Mr. Khattar had said.
The BJP, which is in charge of Haryana, granted Ram Rahim Singh parole three times in 2022 as well.
He was granted a forty-day parole in October, a month-long release in June, and a 21-day release in February. In 2020 and 2021, he was also granted parole once each to see his mother.
A ‘virtual satsang’ hosted by Ram Rahim attracted criticism from the opposition, and the October parole was announced just before the Haryana panchayat elections.
In August 2017, a special CBI court in Panchkula, Haryana, found Ram Rahim Singh guilty of raping two women.
