Rape convict Ram Rahim Singh releases self-praising Diwali 'music' video after online 'satsang'

Currently out on parole, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has released a Diwali 'music' video. This comes days after his online 'satsang' created controversy.

The rape convict self-styled godman's parole has once again coincided with some polls in the region, the third such instance in the current year. Haryana will be witnessing panchayat elections and the bypolls to the Adampur Assembly seat next month.

Watch the music video here:

Online 'Satsangs' from Bagpat

The dera chief, who is serving a 20-year jail for raping his two disciples, had earlier come out of prison on a month-long parole in June, ahead of the elections to 46 municipalities in Haryana.

He was granted three weeks furlough from February 7, barely two weeks before the Punjab Assembly elections. The Sirsa dera has a large number of followers in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The 55-year-old Sirsa dera chief is holding online "satsangs" from the dera's Barnawa ashram in UP's Bagphat.

Haryana Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa was present in a big gathering of the sect's followers in Hisar on Wednesday to listen to an online discourse, during which he talked about his family's association with the Sirsa dera.

The dera chief was last year also convicted along with four others for hatching a conspiracy to kill Ranjit Singh, a dera manager. The dera chief and three others were convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.

(with inputs from PTI)