Punjab: Five veterinary officers dismissed
In a bold move to address negligence and absenteeism, Punjab Animal Husbandry Department on Thursday terminated the services of five veterinary officers with immediate effect.
The opposition parties on Tuesday demanded a probe into the withdrawal of a complaint by the alleged victim of sexual exploitation by Cabinet Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up by the state government to probe the case, has informed the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) that the complainant withdrew the charges during his recent appearance before the SIT.
On the video of the alleged sexual misconduct by the minister, the complainant told the SIT that he had lost his mobile phone and someone had ‘doctored’ the video.
Earlier, the alleged victim had come on camera and claimed that he was subjected to sexual misconduct from 2013 when he was very young, and it continued till 2021.
In the video, he had alleged Kataruchak sexually exploited him by promising him a government job but was ignoring him after becoming the minister.
The SIT has informed the NCSC that no case was made out against Kataruchak as the complainant was not a minor at the time of the alleged sexual abuse. It said both the complainant and the accused were members of the Scheduled Caste category and so the case does not fall under the purview of the SC Commission.
Opposition parties, however, have alleged the victim was forced to withdraw his complaint against the minister.
Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira alleged the SIT was actually set up to shield the Minister not for action against him. Questioning the clean chit to the minister, Khaira said the sexual video clips of Kataruchak were verified by the Governor.
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“…Does withdrawal of complaint absolve the guilty of offence? Why did SIT not confront Kataruchak with videos for the last 60 days? The other lame defense is that since Kataruchak is SC himself there’s no offense against him! That means one SC is allowed to rape another SC? ..” he said in a tweet.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Tuesday urged Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit to order an inquiry against the SIT as well as all others who had allegedly intimidated the victim and forced him to retract his statement.
“It is now clear the SIT was formed to give a clean chit to the minister and that it also caused the victim to retract his allegations,” he said.
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