Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the leader of Sirsa’s Dera Sachcha Sauda, has been given another 21-day furlough. This is the second time this year that he has been allowed a break from his prison sentence. During this period, the convicted rapist will reside at his Dera ashram in Barnawa, located in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh.
The leader of the Dera sect, based in Sirsa, was granted a temporary release shortly after the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee’s (SGPC) petition opposing Singh’s temporary release.
On August 9, the Punjab and Haryana High Court noted that his request for temporary release should be handled by the appropriate authority in a manner free from “arbitrariness or favouritism.” In June, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan petitioned the court for a 21-day release.
In February of this year, the high court instructed the Haryana government not to grant any additional parole to him without its approval. This directive followed his earlier 50-day parole granted on January 19.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh received a 20-year sentence for raping two of his disciples and is currently serving his term at the Sunaria jail in Rohtak, Haryana. He has been incarcerated since 2017.
In 2019, the Dera chief and three other individuals were convicted for the murder of a journalist that took place over 16 years prior. However, in May, the High Court acquitted Singh and four others of the 2002 murder of the sect’s former manager, Ranjit Singh, due to the “tainted and sketchy” nature of the investigations. The Dera chief’s time in prison has been marked by multiple furloughs.
