A 22-year-old woman has accused a self-styled Christian pastor Baljinder Singh, of sexual molestation when she was a minor working in his team.
She lodged a complaint with the Punjab’s Kapurthala police stating her horrific experience when she was only 17 and worked under Baljinder Singh’s team in 2017.
According to her complaint filed on February 20, she has named alleged sexual harassment, stalking, inappropriately touched her, forcing her to marry him even though she was already a married woman then and criminal intimidation by the pastor.
The woman stated that in 2017, her parents took her to Baljinder Singh’s ‘Church of Glory and Wisdom.’ She alleged that he obtained her phone number and began sending her lewd messages. Fearing the consequences, she did not inform her parents at the time.
She experienced panic attacks for years even during her pregnancy.
A case was registered under sections 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Pastor denies charges
However, pastor Baljinder Singh has denied the charges against him by the victim. He held a press conference on Sunday, March 3, where he accused another pastor of framing him under these allegations
“He (the other pastor) has been making false comments against me for the past five years. He made a channel, which has not even been registered, and made false statements about me there,” Baljinder Singh told the press.
Baljinder Singh said that the other pastor has grudges against him after the former registered a case against the latter’s son accusing him of being a fugitive.
“I registered a complaint on February 16, and on February 20, the pastor lodged a complaint in the police station against me,” Baljinder said.
