Out on parole, dera chief cuts cake with sword, BJP leaders attend online sessions
Ram Rahim, who is serving a 20-year jail term for rape and murder, walked out on a 40 day parole from the Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak district Saturday and reached at his Barnawa based dera in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat. He started his online sessions Monday.
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A video grab of Gurmeet Ram Rahim cutting a cake with a sword at Barwala dera in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat. Express Out on parole, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, a rape a murder convict, was Tuesday seen cutting a cake with a sword in violation of the law even as some senior BJP leaders attended his online religious discourse and interactive sessions inviting a sharp reaction from the Delhi Commission for Women.
Ram Rahim, who is serving a 20-year jail term for rape and murder, walked out on a 40 day parole from the Sunaria jail in Haryana’s Rohtak district Saturday and reached at his Barnawa based dera in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat. He started his online sessions Monday.
On Tuesday, a purported video of Ram Rahim cutting a giant cake with a sword was shared widely on social media. In the video, dera chief is purportedly heard saying: “Got a chance after five years to celebrate like this. I should cut at least five cakes. This is the first cake.” The public display of weapons, in this case cutting a cake with a sword, is prohibited under the Arms Act.
In his parole application, Ram Rahim had said that he wants to attend an event to mark the birth anniversary of former dera chief Shah Satnam Singh on January 25.
Meanwhile, several BJP leaders attended his online sessions and sought Dera chief’s blessings. They include Rajya Sabha MP Krishan Lal Panwar, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s officer on special duty (OSD) and former minister Krishan Bedi, transport minister Moolchand Sharma’s brother, Guhla Cheeka MLA’s daughter-in-law and chairpersons of several municipalities.
Reacting to the development, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson Swati Maliwal lashed out at Khattar. Tweeting the video of Ram Rahim cutting the cake, she said, “Khattar ji, see how the rapist whom you left open in the society, is slapping the system. Once great heroes used to protect the weak with the sword. Today this rapist is celebrating with the sword. A case is registered under the Arms Act for such an act, but here the whole government is lying at his feet”.
In another tweet she said that “rapist and murderer” Ram Rahim has again begun his drama. “Haryana CM’s OSD & Rajya Sabha MP attended the court of the fake Baba. Mr Khattar, you cannot escape by saying that you have nothing to do with it. Clear your stand: are you with this rapist or are you with the women,” she asked in a tweet in Hindi.
During the Dera chief’s previous parole period also several Haryana BJP leaders were seen seeking his blessings and interacting with him.
While interacting with the Dera chief online, Panwar and Bedi told him that they had come to Sirsa to invite him to a state-level function being organised on February 3 to mark Sant Ravidas Jayanti at Narwana. Panwar also lauded the Dera chief for launching a cleanliness drive.
Haryana Lokhit Party’s leader Gopal Kanda’s brother Gobind Kanda was also seen interacting with the Dera chief and expressed wish to see Ram Rahim at Sirsa soon.
Ram Rahim is expected to reach Dera’s headquarters at Sirsa Wednesday.
This is the fourth time the Dera chief has got parole in the last 14 months. The latest parole has come less than three months after he was released on parole for 40 days in October 2022 ahead of the Haryana panchayat election and the Adampur Assembly bypoll. At that time also he had stayed in Baghpat.
During his earlier parole, the Dera chief had held several online satsangs and released a few songs.
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