Chandigarh: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year jail sentence for raping two of his disciples, has been granted a 40-day parole, according to official sources.

The 57-year-old will stay at the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters during the parole period, which begins Tuesday, the sources confirmed.

This is not the first time Ram Rahim has been temporarily released from prison:

  • In April 2025, he was granted a 21-day furlough.
  • In January, he was allowed 30-day parole, just before the February 5 Delhi Assembly elections.
  • On October 1 last year, he was given 20-day parole, just ahead of the October 5 Haryana Assembly polls.

Convicted in rape case in 2017

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted in 2017 for raping two of his female disciples, leading to a 20-year prison sentence handed down by a special CBI court.

In May last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Ram Rahim and four others in the 2002 murder case of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh, citing "tainted and sketchy" investigations.

Previously, the group had been sentenced to life imprisonment by a CBI court, which held Singh responsible for hatching a criminal conspiracy with his co-accused.

The Dera Sacha Sauda sect, based in Sirsa (Haryana), has a large following across Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and other northern states. In Haryana, the sect commands massive influence in districts such as Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, and Hisar.

With PTI inputs