Troubles are pouring hard over former Akali minister Sucha Singh langah, who is in police custody in connection with a rape case. Already facing charges of rape, cheating and extortion, langah was charged for hurting religious sentiments on Friday.
A delegation of Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Committee, led by a Shiromani Gurudwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) member, filed a complaint with the police on Friday alleging that a purported video of the Akali leader with a woman in embarrassing position was against the Sikh conduct.
Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harcharan Singh Bhullar said that an investigation found langah involved in hurting religious sentiments, and thus Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was added to the FIR registered against him in the rape case. IPC’s section 295-A deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.
The police on September 28 booked langah on a complaint by the widow of a vigilance official that the Akali leader raped her repeatedly since 2009. He was booked for rape, extortion, cheating and criminal intimidation.
The victim had also submitted a video clip to the police to support her accusations.
On Wednesday, a Gurdaspur court sent langah to five-day police custody after he surrendered before it.
Only a day before, the Sikhs’ highest temporal seat — Akal Takht — had ex-communicated langah, a baptised Sikh, from the Sikh community after his arrest in the rape case. His parent party SAD has already expelled him after his video went viral on social media.