Faridkot, November 5
In a five-year-old case of alleged rape of a woman teacher at Government Adarsh School in Faridkot, the Supreme Court has directed the trial court to go ahead with framing of charges against the chairman of the school and his son, paving the way for a trial against them.
In this case, the District and Sessions Court, Faridkot, had earlier framed charges against the accused in November 2018.
However, the accused, Narinder Singh Randhawa, chairman, Sukh Sagar Welfare Avenue Association, Ludhiana, which was running four Adarsh schools under the PPP mode, and his son, Jasjeet Singh, had approached the High Court, challenging the framing of charges. Both father and son were accused of exploiting the teacher.
In October 2021, the accused had got relief from the High Court in the rape charges against them.
Challenging the High Court orders, the victim approached the Supreme Court. The apex court opined that the High Court was wrong in evaluating the truth and veracity of evidence. There was sufficient material and evidence to frame charges under Section 376 of the IPC, said the Supreme Court in its November 3 order. In a complaint to the police, the woman teacher had alleged that she was working as an administrative officer at Guru Gobind Singh Adarsh School, Pucca village, Faridkot.
She alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Narinder Singh Randhawa, chairman of the school, and his son, Jasmeet Singh, several times.
A case under Sections 354, 376-D, 420 and 406 of the IPC and 3(1)(xi) of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty, rape, cheating) was registered at the Kotkapura Sadar police station on October 6, 2017.
