E-Paper
Woman commits sacrilege in Amritsar gurdwara
A closed-circuit television camera footage at the spot purportedly showed the woman pulling out the holy saroop. Devotees present at the spot, however, foiled her bid and took her outside. Protests erupted in the area in Amritsar after the footage of the incident went viral on social media.
A woman allegedly tried to desecrate the Guru Granth Sahib at Baba Budha Sahib gurdwara, managed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC), in Kathunangal village of the district.
A closed-circuit television camera footage at the spot purportedly showed the woman pulling out the holy saroop. Devotees present at the spot, however, foiled her bid and took her outside. Protests erupted in the area after the footage of the incident went viral on social media.
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Manmohan Singh Aulakh said five persons, including the woman, identified as Jasmine Kaur of Gurdaspur, and her father, have been booked. Two SGPC employees were also booked for negligence. They were not in the gurdwara at the time of the incident. The fifth accused is a man who was seen in the CCTV cameras helping the woman flee after the incident.
The FIR has been registered under Sections 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Gurdev Singh, the manager of the historic gurdwaras at Kathunangal, said, “The gurdwara where the sacrilege happened is around half km away from the main gurdwara. Two employees were deployed there. The employee who performs duty inside the gurdwara had gone to the washroom when the incident happened. Otherwise he was performing his duty.”
Senior Congress leader Bhagwantpal Singh Sachar and Waris Punjab De (WPD) chief Amritpal Singh sought stringent action against the culprits.
