Rape Convict Ram Rahim Gets Another Parole, This Time For 40 Days

Rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been granted a 40-day parole, three months after he was given a 21-day furlough. The self-styled godman walked out of the Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak, reportedly for the 14th time since 2017.

Officials said that Gurmeet Ram Rahim left for the Dera Ashram in Haryana's Sirsa today morning.

The Dera Sacha Sauda chief was sentenced to 20 years in 2017 for raping two of his disciples. In 2019, he and three others were also convicted for the murder of a journalist Ram Chander Chhatarpati. Ram Rahim was also sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2002 murder of his manager, Ranjit Singh. However, he, along with four others - Avtar Singh, Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, and Sabdil Singh - were acquitted in May 2024, citing "tainted and sketchy" investigations in the matter.

On April 9, Ram Rahim was granted a 21-day furlough. Before this, he was given a 20-day parole in January this year.

In the past, some of the rape convict's paroles and furloughs have coincided with the polls in Punjab, Haryana, and neighbouring states. In 2022, he got out of jail thrice - first in February for 21 days during the Punjab assembly polls, then in June for a month when civic body elections were held in Haryana, and then in October for 40 days during Haryana by-polls. Before that, he came out on a 40-day parole in October 2020, when the Haryana assembly elections were held.

However, he was barred from participating in election-related activities, making speeches, and staying in the states during the election period.