Sexual assault victims coming forward with complaints

There has been a spur in number of reported sexual assault cases in Punjab following mass protest against Delhi gangrape case, with many alleged victims coming forward with their complaints.

As many as four such cases, including one against a police head constable, have been reported in Amritsar and Bathinda districts of Punjab in the last two days.

A 20-year-old girl in Amritsar's Ajnala town yesterday lodged a complaint against a Punjab police head constable, his wife and nephew, alleging that she was sexually assaulted in October on the pretext of giving her a job in the police department, police said.

Search is on to nab Kulwinder Singh, his wife Ranjit Kaur and nephew Gurcharan Singh, Amritsar (Rural) SSP Preetpal Singh Virk said, adding an officer of the rank of SP had been asked to lead the investigation.

Another rape case was reported in Bhindi Saida village in Amritsar district where police arrested one person for allegedly raping a girl.

The girl alleged that two persons on December 23 forcibly took her to a secluded place and repeatedly raped her, keeping her captive till December 27.

After returning home the girl narrated the incident to her family following which a case was registered and one of the accused, Manjit Singh, was arrested.
The second accused was yet to arrested.

In Bathinda, a village head, Sukhdeep Singh, has been arrested after a 25-year-old girl lodged complaint, alleging that he raped her for over five years, promising to marry her, police said.

One more case was registered in Bathinda against three persons for allegedly gangraping a married woman in the district's Maisarkhana village.

Reporting the incident which had occurred on October 20, the woman alleged that she was gangraped by Lila Singh and two others. All the three are absconding.
Meanwhile, in Chandigarh, a traffic constable, Jatinder Pal Singh, has been arrested for allegedly eve-teasing a woman at a challaning branch.

Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini has directed all district SSPs to review sexual assault cases on a daily basis and take immediate action on such complaints.