In a move to corner the Parkash Singh Badal government on law and order situation in Punjab,the state Congress will bring to the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday (March 12) the 23-year-old girl who was thrashed by policemen in full public view in Taran Tarn on March 3 after she approached them with an eve-teasing complaint against some truck drivers. The party,sources said,has talked to girls family,which has agreed to bring the victim to Chandigarh. In the Congress Legislature Party meeting on Tuesday,it was disclosed that she would be brought into the Assembly to expose the false claims of Chief Minister and his Deputy Chief Minister son,Sukhbir Badal,that Punjab was the best governed state of the country. The Party MLAs were asked to keep it under wraps to thwart any move by the government to pressurise or prevent the girl and her father from reaching the Assembly. Contacted,the victims father said they have been contacted by the Congress and he will accompany his daughter to the Vidhan Sabha. He claimed that both the policemen and Akali leaders had been visiting him and asking him to reach a compromise. They told us to accept money and offered a government job to my daughter. But we will not bow down to any pressure. My daughter was beaten mercilessly like an animal in full public view. Some policemen took me in their vehicle and thrashed me badly. But only two of them caught on camera have been suspended by the government. They too will be reinstated after three months. They will again unleash terror on us. The entire world has seen how my daughter was insulted,she has done no wrong and I have no problem in bringing her to the Vidhan Sabha, he added. Though the initial video clippings showing the victim being assaulted were aired on television channels,the party risks running into legal trouble by revealing the identity of the victim and is learnt to have sought legal opinion on the issue. The two policemen caught on camera thrashing the girl were arrested Monday after the Supreme Court rejected the explanation of the Punjab Police on the investigation and asked,was she a terrorist? Meanwhile,SAD spokesman,Daljit Cheemam,said the errant policemen could not be dismissed without following proper procedure. If they are dismissed without conducting a proper inquiry,they may challenge their dismissal in courts and get reinstated, he said.
