In a massive development, Jalandhar-based Pastor Bajinder Singh on Tuesday was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Mohali Court. Pastor Bajinder Singh was found guilty by a Mohali Court in 2018 sexual harassment case filed at Zirakpur Police Station. Before his sentencing, the victim was quoted by a newswire saying, "I want at least 20 years of imprisonment to him. He knows the law very well and does all this crime willingly. I want women to come out and speak freely about him. They should not get scared anymore..."
After Bajinder Singh's sentencing, the victim in the case said, "He (Bajinder) is a psycho and will do the same offense after coming out of jail, so I want him to stay in the prison. A lot of girls (victims) have won today. I request that DGP ensure our security since there is a possibility of attacks on us."
The victim who fought the court case for 7 years was quoted by India TV during which she said, "We struggled for seven years for this case. He (the convict) used to mislead the court and used to do foreign trips, while the court's orders didn't permit him to do so. Fake FIRs were filed on me, we were attacked, I spent six months in jail, and then I was determined to get him punished. We had faith in the judiciary. I want him to get severely punished. There were six accused, case on five of them has been dismissed and pastor Bajinder has been convicted. We welcome the court's decision."
For the unversed, Zirakpur police had filed an FIR against Pastor Bajinder Singh and seven others based on the victim's complaint. The other individuals named in the case are Akbar Bhatti, Rajesh Chaudhary, Sucha Singh, Jatinder Kumar, Sitar Ali, and Sandeep alias Pahalwan. They were booked under IPC sections 376 (rape), 420 (cheating), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 294 (obscene acts or songs), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of 1 offence committed in prosecution of common object). 2 The pastor had been arrested in this case previously.