Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the leader of Dera Sacha Sauda, has been granted parole once again. Currently serving a 20-year sentence for raping two female followers, he will be released from Sunaria Jail in Rohtak, Haryana, for a duration of 21 days. This decision has raised concerns among various groups, given the nature of his convictions and the impact of his influence on his followers.
His acquittal came seven years after a special CBI court had convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The Bench, however, dismissed the appeals filed by two other accused. It subsequently took over the investigation from the case originally registered at a police station in Sirsa.
Meanwhile, in March, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. The verdict was pronounced by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal while hearing appeals challenging the 2019 conviction. A special CBI court in Haryana’s Panchkula had convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in 2019 for the murder of Sirsa-based journalist Chhatrapati. The CBI registered the case on November 10, 2003, following directions from the High Court.
