&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Rape and murder convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim walks out of jail again: A look at his 17 temporary releases since 2020")
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh walked out of the high-security Sunaria jail in Haryana’s Rohtak on Tuesday (Aug 25), for the 17th time since 2020, after he was granted a 21-day furlough. The furlough comes less than two months after he returned to the jail on June 26 after completing 30-day parole. He left the jail at around 6.05 am and is on his way to Sirsa based Dera headquarters.
Also Read: India: Supreme Court greenlights proceedings against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in 2015 sacrilege case
The Dera chief was lodged in Sunaria jail in August 2017 after being convicted in the rape case involving two women followers. He was subsequently convicted in other cases of rape and murder , including the murder of Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. In the rape case of followers, he was sentenced to two consecutive 10-year terms. In 2019, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering the murder of the journalist who exposed his sexual abuse cases. In 2024, he and four others were acquitted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court due to flawed investigation and weak evidence in Ranjit Singh murder case. According to reports, Ram Rahim’s temporary releases are governed by the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022. As per the rules, eligible convicts can be granted up to 70 days of parole and 21 days of furlough in a calendar year, subject to the applicable conditions and approval by the competent authority.
List of Ram Rahim’s 17 temporary releases since 2020
- 1st release — October 2020: 1 day
- 2nd — May 2021: 12 hours to visit his mother
- 3rd — February 2022: 21 days
- 4th — June 2022: 30 days
- 5th — October 2022: 40 days
- 6th — January 2023: 40 days
- 7th — July 2023: 30 days
- 8th — November 2023: 21 days
- 9th — January 2024: 50 days
- 10th — August 2024: 21 days
- 11th — October 2024: 20 days
- 12th — January 2025: 30 days
- 13th — April 2025: 21 days
- 14th — August 2025: 40 days
- 15th — January 2026: 40 days
- 16th — May 2026: 30 days
- 17th — August 2026: 21 days
