A week after he was booked for raping a Punjab Police constable, former Akali minister Sucha Singh Langah was on Thursday excommunicated by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs.
The move comes a day after Langah surrendered in a Gurdaspur court, which remanded him in five-day police custody.
Pronouncing the “hukamnama” (edict) after a three-hour meeting with four other Sikh high priests, Akal Takht jathedar Gaini Gurbachan Singh said Sikhs were known for their high and inspirational character but Langah had hurt the community’s sentiments. “Langah has brought a bad name to the community and his acts can’t be pardoned,” he said, directing the community not keep any relations with Langah.
“Langah was removed from all posts he was holding in the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. If he is a member of any other Sikh organisation, he should be expelled immediately. Moreover, in future, all religious bodies should check the character of the person before giving him any post,” he said.
Langah was booked by Gurdaspur police on September 29 under Sections 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the complaint of a woman police constable who alleged that the Akali leader raped her repeatedly since 2009. The woman also submitted a 20-minute video to the police.
{{/usCountry}}Langah was booked by Gurdaspur police on September 29 under Sections 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the complaint of a woman police constable who alleged that the Akali leader raped her repeatedly since 2009. The woman also submitted a 20-minute video to the police.
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Parallel jathedars designated by the radical Sarbat Khalsa had also excommunicated Langah on Wednesday for blasphemy.
Meanwhile, the jathedar also warned Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Arjun Singh, son of Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal, of strict action in case they don’t appear before the Akal Takht for allegedly seeking votes from Dera Sacha Sauda for the February 4 polls in Punjab this year.