Dera chief Ram Rahim walks out of jail again on 30-day parole, 16th such exit in nine years

Jail officials confirmed that Ram Rahim walked out of the high-security facility amid tight security at 6.30 am.

Convicted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was released from Sunaria Jail in Haryana’s Rohtak on Tuesday morning after being granted a 30-day parole, marking his 16th temporary exit since his incarceration began in 2017.

Ram Rahim has spent 406 days outside prison during his 3,193 days (about eight years and eight months) of his sentence so far. (HT file photo)

Jail officials confirmed that Ram Rahim walked out of the high-security facility amid tight security at 6.30am. Under his strict parole conditions, he proceeded to the sect’s headquarters in Sirsa, where he will stay during the release period.

At present, the Dera chief is serving a 20-year prison sentence following his 2017 conviction for raping two women disciples. His broader legal history involves multiple high-profile cases, including a life sentence handed down by a special CBI court in 2019 for the 2002 murder case of journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati, who had exposed the sexual exploitation within the dera.

However, the Punjab and Haryana high court recently acquitted him and four others in this case, citing “tainted and unreliable” evidence, following a similar acquittal earlier for the murder of former dera manager Ranjit Singh.

Ram Rahim has spent 406 days outside prison during his 3,193 days (about eight years and eight months) of his sentence so far through a combination of paroles and furloughs. His current 30-day leave is scheduled to end on June 24, after which he must surrender and return to Sunaria Jail.