Self-styled baba booked for rape

“The victim would be medically examined tomorrow while raids are being conducted to arrest the accused,” said Zirakpur Station House Officer (SHO) Sukhwinder Singh.

The accused,according to the victim,met her in November 2007. Ever since,he remained in contact with the victim,her mother and sister and kept on assuring them that he would get the victim and her sister settled abroad. In May 2008,the accused invited both sisters from their residence at Hoshiarpur to Chandigarh and took them to various people,pretending that he was trying to help them out. It soon became a regular affair.

In lieu of this,the accused started violating the sisters and even allegedly raped them number of times. The victim alleged that despite their resistance,he kept on raping her and even threatened her with dire consequences.

“Till now,I remained mum but when he again called me up and started threatening me with dire consequences,if I did not return to him,I broke down and revealed my tale of woes to my mother,following which we approached the police,” the victim told media persons,at a press briefing here today,while adding that her sister was still with Singh,who claims that she was placed in Gurgaon and will never return back to them.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Mohali) has ordered the registration of a criminal case against Singh,who was booked on charges of rape,criminal intimidation,wrongful confinement and criminal conspiracy at the Zirakpur police station. The victim’s sister is also booked on charges of conspiring with Singh.

‘Mushrooming of deras need to be controlled’

Urging for the need of bold and radical reforms to effectively counter the spread of ‘dera culture’,Majha ex-serviceman Human Rights Front chairman Colonel GS Sandhu (Retd),who brought the victim in front of media,demanded that drastic measures should be taken by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to keep a check on the mushrooming of deras.

Citing examples such as the case of land grabbing of an NRI involving Baba Pritpal Singh,who is wanted by the Chandigarh Police,case against Baba Ram Rahim of Sirsa as well as imprisonment of 10 years in a rape case awarded to Baba Dhanwant Singh,Col Sandhu said these so called ‘holy men’ hoodwink the public and indulge in heinous crimes such as murders,rapes,abductions,cheating,forgery and impersonation.