Pastor Bajinder Singh awarded life imprisonment in 2018 rape case

The court had convicted Bajinder under Sections 376 (rape), 323 (punishment for voluntary causing hurt), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC while acquitting five others — Akhbar Bhatti, Rajesh Chaudhary, Jatinder Kumar, Sitar Ali and Sandeep Pehlwan.

Bajinder has been sentenced to life under Section 376 and to one-year imprisonment each under Sections 323 and 506 of the IPC. All the sentences will run concurrently, the court said.

The order came in a case registered at Mohali’s Zirakpur police station in 2018. In her complaint, the woman had alleged that Bajinder, on the pretext of helping her in moving and settling abroad, lured her to his residence in Mohali’s Sector 63, where he raped her and also recorded the act. She had further alleged that he threatened to post the video on social media if she did not agree to his demands. Following the registration of the FIR, Bajinder was arrested at Delhi airport in 2018. He was later released on bail.

Considering the protests by his followers in past, tight security arrangements were put in place at the court complex. Bajinder, who was arrested on March 28, was brought to court from Mansa Jail under heavy security cover.

While Bajinder’s counsel H S Dhanoa said they will challenge the verdict in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the survivor woman, and her counsel — Anil Kumar Sagar and Sumit Sawhney — welcomed the order, saying she got justice after seven years.

Sagar said the court has pronounced an exemplary verdict. “Any lackadaisical approach in such cases instils confidence in the perpetrators who either assert their social position or act under the garb of religion to exploit the poor and the vulnerable,” he told reporters.

Sawhney said that Bajinder pleaded for mercy stating that he has a rod in his leg, which makes it difficult for him to walk. He said his three children were young and his wife suffered from a medical condition. He also said that he was the sole breadwinner in the family and hence a lenient view be taken in the case.

The court, however, said it was of the view that Bajinder was having dominance over the woman and, by misusing his position as a preacher, he committed a heinous offence.

The court noted that determination and awarding of adequate sentence commensurate with the gravity of the offence was a judicial obligation. “Sexual violence, apart from being a dehumanising act, is an unlawful intrusion on the right of privacy and sanctity of a female. It is a serious blow to her supreme honour and offends her self-esteem and dignity. A rapist not only causes physical injuries, but more indelibly leaves a scar on the most cherished possession of a girl, i.e., her dignity, honour, reputation and not the least her chastity. In these circumstances, every perpetrator of rape should be punished expeditiously, severally and strictly,” the order said.

Keeping in view the gravity of the offence, for which the convict has been convicted by the court, he does not deserve leniency, it added.

Bajinder, often referred to as the “Yeshu Yeshu prophet” by his followers, is not new to controversies. He was booked in another sexual harassment case on February 28, based on a complaint lodged by a 22-year-old woman. Police had booked him under Sections 354 A (sexual harassment), 354 D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. The Kapurthala police have formed a three-member special investigation team to investigate the charges, which Bajinder had rejected the allegations as baseless.

On March 25, Mohali police booked Bajinder for assault, wrongful restraint and other charges, days after a video of him purportedly arguing and slapping a woman went viral on social media. The FIR was registered after a 40-year-old woman, who was seen in the viral video, filed a complaint alleging that Bajinder had also tried to strangle her. The FIR has been registered at Majri police station in Mullanpur under sections 74 (assault with intent to harm a woman’s dignity), 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt) and 351 (2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on the complaint of the woman who had been serving in Bajinder’s ministry for the past 13-14 years.

Bajinder runs two churches — The Church of Glory and Wisdom at Tajpur in Jalandhar and another one in Mohali’s Majri. A Jat from Haryana, Bajinder converted to Christianity and became a preacher in 2012, with his supporters claiming that he presides over 260 churches worldwide. He hold congregations, often attended by a large number of people who come in anticipation of getting their ailments cured. These congregations are broadcast live on the YouTube channel ‘Prophet Bajinder Singh’, which has 3.74 million subscribers.