Rape case against Langah: Three more witnesses record statements
GURDASPUR : Three more witnesses, including a Punjab Police inspector and a government doctor, recorded their statements in a Gurdaspur court on Monday in connection with the rape case against former Akali Dal minister Sucha Singh Langah.
The next date of hearing in the case is April 9.
Those who recorded their statements in the court of Gurdaspur additional district and sessions judge Prem Kumar are inspector Gurdeep Singh, who is the investigating officer in the case, Dr Manjit Babbar and Jagdev Singh, a Punjab Police employee and brother of the woman at whose house the alleged crime was committed.
Dr Babbar, who was on the three-member board of doctors who medically examined the complainant woman, presented the medical report on the victim. Jagdev confirmed in the court that the house in which the alleged rape was committed belonged to his sister who lives abroad.
Langah was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana high court on March 19 on the condition that he will not leave the country during the case trial without the court’s permission.
On March 12, three witnesses — a doctor, a bank manager and an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) — had recorded their statements in said court in the case.
LANGAH SUPPORTERS GATHER IN COURT COMPLEX
On Monday, around 300 of Langah’s supporters assembled in the district courts complex during the hearing of the case. Addressing some mediapersons outside the court, Langah claimed that he will bow before the Akal Takht in Amritsar as a humble Sikh.
Lakhwinder Singh Qadian, an activist of the Satkar Committee, demanded action by the Akal Takht against those who had assembled in the courts complex in support of Langah who has been excommunicated from the Sikh Panth.
COMPLAINANT’S RETRACTION
On February 28, the complainant, a constable with the Pathankot vigilance bureau, had retracted her allegation that Langah had been raping her since 2009 using death threats and he had sold her properties fraudulently.
She had told the court that she was forced to sign blank papers. She also said she was not the woman shown in the video (on the basis of which the complaint was lodged) with Langah. She denied meeting Langah. Rape charges were framed against Langah by the court of Gurdaspur additional district and sessions judge Prem Kumar on February 14.