Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim who is accused of rape again granted parole for…

Gurmeet Ram Rahim who was convicted in 2017 for raping two of his disciples, will stay at his Sirsa-headquartered Dera during the 40-day period.

Jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, has been granted a 40-day parole, sources said on Tuesday. Singh was convicted in 2017 for raping two of his disciples.

Singh (57) will stay at his Sirsa-headquartered Dera during the 40-day period beginning Tuesday, the sources said.

How many times has Gurmeet Ram Rahim being given paroles?

Singh walked out of the Sunaria jail in Haryana’s Rohtak after being granted a 21-day furlough in April.

In January, Singh was granted a 30-day parole, ahead of the February 5 Delhi Assembly polls. He was also granted a 20-day parole on October 1 last year, ahead of the October 5 Haryana Assembly polls.

What is the case?

In May last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted the Dera chief and four others in the 2002 murder of the sect’s former manager Ranjit Singh, citing “tainted and sketchy” investigations into the matter.

Earlier, a special CBI court sentenced them to life imprisonment in the nearly 20-year-old murder case. It held Singh guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy with his co-accused.

The Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda has a number of followers in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and other states. In Haryana, the Dera has a sizable number of followers in many districts, including Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Hisar.