Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh - supposed to be serving a 20-year jail term for raping two women - has been granted parole, again. Singh has been released for 50 days; this is Ram Rahim Singh's seventh parole in the past 24 months, and ninth in the last four years.
Last year alone Ram Rahim Singh - on paper behind bars in Sunaria Jail in Haryana's Rohtak district - was given parole on three occasions, adding up to 91 days. He was released for 21 days in November, 30 days in July, and 40 days in January - to attend former Dera chief Shah Satnam's birth anniversary.
Singh was pictured on that occasion "celebrating" by cutting a birthday cake with a sword. In a video that was widely shared online Rahim Singh was seen slashing the cake and declaring, "Got a chance after five years to celebrate like this... so I should cut at least five cakes. This is the first cake!"
READ | "I Should Cut At Least 5 Cakes": Rape Convict Dera Chief, Out On Parole
The public display of weapons (cutting a cake with a sword falls in that category) is prohibited under the Arms Act.
Ram Rahim's January 2023 release triggered controversy, particularly after Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar insisted getting parole, provided all procedures are followed, was his "right".
READ | Less Than 6 Months After 'Cake-Cutting' Parole, Ram Rahim Out Again
"I was not aware that Ram Rahim has got parole. But if he has, then it must be after following all the procedures and that is his right. I will not interfere in that," Mr Khattar had said.
In 2022 too, the BJP that is in power in Haryana had given Ram Rahim Singh parole three times.
In October he was released for 40 days, in June he was released for a month, and, in February, he was released for 21 days. He was also given parole once each in 2021 and 2020 - to visit his mother.
The October parole came ahead of panchayat polls in Haryana and several BJP leaders were seen in attendance at a 'virtual satsang' held by Ram Rahim, inviting attacks from the opposition.
Ram Rahim Singh was convicted by a special CBI court in Haryana's Panchkula in August 2017 for raping two women.
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