Kumar Bahukhandi
That the bureaucracy-political class nexus has gone out of its way to facilitate a murder and rape convict after all these years of struggle is a poor reflection of our society and raises disturbing questions.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh the leader of the sect Dera Sacha Sauda, who is a convicted rapist and murderer, was released on parole days before the Haryana Assembly elections. He was released on parole in the run-up to the Punjab Assembly elections in 2022 and the Rajasthan Assembly elections in 2023 as well. Singh has come out on parole 15 times, with several of these occasions coinciding with some election. In all, Singh has spent more than 250 days of his sentence outside jail.
The ostensible reason for his release is that, as a leader of a sect, he commands pockets of support and influence beyond Haryana and Punjab, in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, in an estimated 30 Assembly constituencies. His political clout aside, the fact that he has been convicted for raping two female disciples and also for murder by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court needs to be reiterated.
