Self-styled pastor Gill, accused of raping student, surrenders in Punjab court

Chandigarh(The Uttam Hindu): Self-styled pastor Jashan Gill, who has been accused of raping a 22-year-old BCA student and later forced her to undergo an abortion that eventually claimed her life in 2023, surrendered in a trial court in Gurdaspur town of Punjab on Wednesday. The victim’s father alleged that the pastor lured her daughter with false promise, raped her and arranged botched up abortion, resulting in severe complications.

A day earlier, the brother and sister of the accused were arrested by the police. The victim’s father also blamed the police for indulging in corruption, saying the pastor had bribed officials and that was the reason he had not been arrested. "The police have not arrested Gill. He roams freely even though this incident occurred in 2023. The police take money from him," the victim’s father was quoted as saying.

He also accused Gill of making threats to his life on several occasions. The father had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking a CBI inquiry into the case. Gill’s surrender comes days after a Mohali court sentenced another self-styled pastor, Bajinder Singh, 42, to life imprisonment in a 2018 sexual harassment case.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Vikrant Kumar had pronounced the verdict in the case where a woman alleged that pastor Bajinder Singh, the 'Yeshu Yeshu Prophet', had established non-consensual sexual relations with her on the pretext of taking her abroad.

The court held Bajinder Singh, 42, who is based in Jalandhar, guilty on March 28. Baljinder Singh, known for claiming to heal ailments through miracles, appeared before the court on Monday, after which the verdict was reserved. In 2022, Bajinder Singh was accused of taking money from a Delhi family for treating their daughter for her illness, but she could not be saved.