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Brother arrested for sheltering rape-accused Gurdaspur pastor
Victim’s kin had moved court stating police were showing laxity in arresting him, court had declared him PO; woman had died after he allegedly forced her to undergo an abortion
Punjab Police on Monday arrested the brother of Jashan Gill, a self-styled pastor in Gurdaspur town of Punjab, who was accused of raping a 22-year-old woman in 2023 and subsequently declared a proclaimed offender (PO) by the court.
Confirming the development, Gurdaspur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Aditya said the main accused’s brother, Prem Masih, was arrested from Jammu for allegedly providing shelter to Gill. Cops, however, did not share any more details, citing that investigation is underway.
Police have intensified efforts to nab the pastor after the victim’s father moved the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeking CBI inquiry in the case and accused the police of showing laxity in arresting the accused.
The case was registered in 2023, and family of the victim had alleged that the self-styled pastor had forced her to undergo an abortion that eventually claimed her life in 2023.
The father of the woman made the allegation close on the heels of a Mohali court sentencing another self-styled Christian pastor, Bajinder Singh, 42, to life imprisonment in a 2018 sexual harassment case on April 1.
“Our family used to go to a church in Abul Khair village of Gurdaspur district where the pastor, Jashan Gill, misled my daughter and raped her repeatedly. She was 22 and a student of bachelor of computer applications (BCA). He got her pregnant and later forced her to undergo an abortion by a nurse at Khokhar village,” the father had told the media after filing a plea in the HC on Saturday.
Accusing the nurse of negligence, he had said: “The abortion was performed carelessly, after which she caught an infection. My daughter complained of stomach pain and was hospitalised. After an ultrasound, we came to know that she had undergone an abortion, and then she was taken to Amritsar, where she died during treatment.”
The father had also alleged police corruption, claiming that the pastor had bribed officials, which is why he had not been arrested yet.
“I have got threats, so I left my village. I want justice for my daughter. Punjab Police have done nothing. I demand a CBI inquiry into the incident and have approached the high court,” he had said.
Refuting the allegations, the SSP said the police have been making persistent efforts to nab the accused ever since the FIR was registered.
