YAD leader held for outraging woman’s modesty
A Youth Akali Dal (YAD) leader was arrested on the charge of sexual harassment and outraging a woman’s modesty here on Saturday. The accused has been identified as Major Singh, a former sarpanch and husband of the incumbent block samiti member Jasbir Kaur of Tunga village in the district.
A Youth Akali Dal (YAD) leader was arrested on the charge of sexual harassment and outraging a woman’s modesty here on Saturday.
The accused has been identified as Major Singh, a former sarpanch and husband of the incumbent block samiti member Jasbir Kaur of Tunga village in the district. Meanwhile, family members of the victim alleged that the police have carried out investigation in a very lopsided manner and avoided to add stricter charge of rape against the accused. The accused is purportedly active in the Nabha area and has close association with senior SAD leaders of the area.
In an affidavit submitted to senior superintendent of police (SSP), 21-year-old victim (name withheld) alleged that the accused had developed physical relations with her on the pretext of marrying her over the past several years. “Despite being married, the accused kept her in dark maintaining that he was not on good terms with his wife and would get divorce from her soon,” she alleged.
“When I stopped meeting the accused, he started blackmailing me that he would defame me and my family by sending her videos through mobile apps and would paste them in the village,” she alleged.
The victim added that she had narrated the whole story to her family members, who approached the police to register a case in this regard.
The victim, along with her family, approached Patiala SSP Hardial Singh Mann on June 12, who transferred the case to the women’s cell. The police registered the case on June 14 under several sections of the IPC including 354 (criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354 D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) and 420 (cheating).
Ranjit Singh, sar panch of Tunga village, alleged that the police have not carried out a detailed investigation into the matter and excluded rape charges against the accused due to his political relations with influential leaders in the state.
The police women’s cell incharge Pushpa Devi said the case has been registered on the basis of a written complaint submitted by the victim. She refuted the allegation of pressurising the family to a compromise with the accused.