Rape Convict Godman Ram Rahim Leaves Jail Again on 21 Days Parole

Chandigarh: Rape convict self-proclaimed godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been again granted a 21-day parole.

During his temporary release from jail, he will visit the Dera ashram in Barnawa in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat.

The controversial Dera sect chief was granted the temporary release days after the Punjab and Haryana High Court disposed of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s (SGPC) petition against Singh’s parole.

The high court on August 9 observed that a plea for temporary release by the Dera chief should be considered by the competent authority without any “arbitrariness or favouritism”.

In June, Singh moved the High Court seeking a 21-day furlough.

On February 29, the High Court directed the Haryana government not to grant further parole to the Dera Sacha Sauda chief without its permission.

Ram Rahim was granted a 50-day parole on January 19.

He was sentenced to 20-year jail in 2017 for raping two of his disciples. He and three others were also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist. A special CBI court had sentenced him to life imprisonment in the nearly 20-year-old murder case.