Punjab: Accused of rape, AAP MLA Pathanmajra flees to Australia
Patiala (PTI): Punjab AAP MLA Harmit Singh Pathanmajra, who has been on the run since September 2 in a rape case, is learnt to have fled to Australia after his appearance in a video interview.
The development came as an embarrassment for the police, as the Sanour MLA remained elusive despite raids at his possible hideouts.
Patiala police also issued a look-out notice against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA.
Pathanmajra appeared in the video interview on Friday with an Australia-based Punjabi web channel in which he claimed that he would "return home only after securing bail".
Denying all allegations, he termed the case a "political conspiracy", aimed at silencing voices that speak for Punjab's people.
"In Punjab, ministers and MLAs are not consulted on key matters. Freedom of speech is being curtailed. After losing in Delhi, those leaders have now taken over Punjab, and they are ruining it the same way," he alleged, while expressing full faith in the judiciary.
A Patiala court has already initiated proclaimed offender proceedings against Pathanmajra after he failed to appear in connection with the rape case.
The first-time MLA escaped police custody when the Punjab Police went to Karnal in Haryana to arrest him.
Police had then claimed that gunshots were fired, and stones were pelted by the legislator's supporters after a team went to arrest him in the Dabri village of Karnal district, where he was at a relative’s residence.
However, Pathanmajra denied being involved in the firing and had said he fled after learning that he would be killed in a "fake encounter".
Police had registered a case against the AAP MLA at the Civil Lines police station here on September 1 on the charges of rape, cheating, and criminal intimidation.
The case was registered based on a complaint by a Zirakpur-based woman, who alleged that the MLA misrepresented himself as divorced, entered into a relationship with her, and later married in 2021 while already being married.
She accused him of continued sexual exploitation, threats, and sending "obscene" material to her.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
