Shruti abduction case: Main accused Nishan Singh gets lifer
Monday, 27/05/2013
http://punjabnewsline.com/news/Shruti-abduction-case_-Main-accused-Nishan-Singh-gets-lifer.html
FARIDKOT: A trial court has convicted Nishan Singh and 9 others in the infamous Shruti abduction case.
The main accused Nishan Singh has been sentenced life imprisonment while others including his mother, former councilor Manjinder Singh, Navjot Kaur have been jailed for 7 years.
Sesssions judge Archana Puri, however, acquitted ten others of the charges.
15-year old Shruti Sachdeva was allegedly abducted at gunpoint from her Faridkot residence on September 24 last year by Nishan Singh and his accomplices. The police had initially claimed that the girl had eloped with him but after facing criticism from all quarters, the search operation to nab the alleged couple was strengthened and the girl was recovered from Goa in October.
The victim in a statement contradicted the claim of the police that she had eloped.
The minor girl's statement in the chargesheet submitted by police in the court alleged that she was abducted and kept forcibly in Chandigarh, Delhi and Goa by the main accused Nishan Singh, who is already facing at least 18 criminal cases.
She claimed that she was molested and forced to remain silent as the accused threatened to harm her parents. The victim also stated that the accused forced her to write letters to show that she was with him of her own free will.
He had coerced her into posing for a picture with him "to spoil her life", the victim alleged in the statement.
Senior police officials had publicly dubbed the case as that of elopement and claimed that the girl had been willingly living with the main accused in Goa, triggering an open spat between Congress leaders and the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal.
The victim claimed that she tried to escape twice but was caught and beaten up.
The girl was pregnant when she was recovered from Goa. However, she showed reluctance in getting herself medically examined.
She later got her pregnancy terminated.
