ROHTAK: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim , serving a life sentence for murder and a 20-year jail term for rape, has received parole for the 15th time since his first conviction in Aug 2017. He is likely to step out of Rohtak’s Sunaria jail on Monday for 40 days, taking the total time he has spent out of prison to 405 days in just over eight years.The Rohtak divisional commissioner approved Ram Rahim’s parole on Saturday, based on his plea to be allowed to attend the Jan 25 birth anniversary of the dera’s second head, Shah Satnam Singh. He is expected to spend the duration of his parole at the dera headquarters in Sirsa.

In 2025, Ram Rahim received parole on three occasions – for 30 days in Jan, ahead of assembly elections in Delhi; 21 days in April; and 40 days in Aug, coinciding with his birthday.Although parole rules prohibit the rape-murder convict from being part of gatherings, he was permitted to interact with followers via virtual platforms each time. He has stayed at various locations during past paroles, including the dera ashram in UP’s Baghpat.A court in Panchkula convicted Ram Rahim on Aug 25, 2017, in separate cases of sexual assault on two of his followers.He was sentenced to life imprisonment in Jan 2019 for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. In 2021, he received another life sentence for the murder of dera manager Ranjit Singh, but Punjab and Haryana high court acquittedhim in that case three years later. The dera chief’s 2017 conviction for rape had triggered violence across Haryana and Punjab. Clashes between his supporters and security forces following the Panchkula court verdict resulted in over 40 deaths. Police airlifted Ram Rahim from the courthouse directly to Sunaria jail.