Priest arrested for abducting, raping minor sister-in-law

A 15-year-old girl who went missing on October 13 was allegedly abducted by his brother-in-law, who is a priest of a dera near Dhanori of Patiala. The accused Lakhbir Singh, 28, of Dhanori village near Samrala had allegedly not only abducted his sister-in-law on the pretext of marriage, but also confined her for at least four months and raped her.

A 15-year-old girl who went missing on October 13 was allegedly abducted by his brother-in-law, who is a priest of a dera near Dhanori of Patiala.

HT Image

The accused Lakhbir Singh, 28, of Dhanori village near Samrala had allegedly not only abducted his sister-in-law on the pretext of marriage, but also confined her for at least four months and raped her. The accused is married and has a child.

When the accused denied solemnising marriage with her, she managed to escape from his clutches on Saturday and filed a complaint at the Dehlon police station. The police arrested the accused immediately after registering an FIR against him as he had come to Dehlon chasing the victim.

The police produced the accused in the court of duty magistrate on Sunday, which sent him to one-day police remand.

The victim's father is the head priest at gurdwara sahib in Gopalpur village and the accused used to visit the victim's house.

The victim alleged that the accused had abducted her on October 12 on the pretext of marriage. He confined her in the dera and used to establish physical relations with her. He had also threatened her not to reveal the incident to anyone.

Sub-inspector Harbans Singh, SHO of Dehlon police station, said the family was unaware about the abduction of the girl and had filed a missing report on October 13 last.