Ram Rahim walks out of jail on parole ahead of his b'day

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the chief of the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda sect who has been convicted of rape and murder, walked out of a prison in Rohtak after securing parole for 30 days ahead of his birthday on August 15, the second time in a year that he has secured temporary release from jail for about four weeks.

- Hitender Rao

Singh, who is serving a 20-year sentence for rape and two life terms for murders, secured parole in two stints, each for 40 days in January this year and October 2022.

The latest parole exhausts his quota for the year.

The Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act lays down that a convicted prisoner may be released on regular parole, which does not count in a person's term served, for up to 10 of the 52 weeks in a calendar year, at most in two parts.

The Dera head has thus exhausted the 10 weeks (70 days) stipulated under the law for 2023.