Punjab AAP MLA Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, accused in rape case, ‘flees’ to Australia

Punjab MLA Harmit Singh Pathanmajra, who has been absconding since September 2 after being booked in a rape and cheating case, has allegedly fled to Australia, PTI reported on Sunday.

This came to light after the Aam Aadmi Party legislator from Patiala district's Sanour appeared in a video interview on Friday with an Australia-based Punjabi web channel. In the interview, Pathanmajra said that he was in Australia and would “return home only after securing bail”.

He claimed that he had been “framed”, The Indian Express reported.

The MLA had been booked on charges of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation on September 1 after a woman from Zirakpur accused him of sexually exploiting her on the pretext of marriage, the newspaper reported. She also alleged that he had concealed his first marriage.

After the registration of the first information report, the Punjab Police had sent a team to arrest him from his relative's home in Haryana's Karnal district. However, Pathanmajra escaped amid his supporters allegedly throwing stones and firing shots at the police.

The police issued a look-out notice against the MLA and have been trying to trace him. He has not been arrested despite being active on social media and giving interviews on television.

A court in Patiala has rejected his petition for anticipatory bail and has issued a proclamation notice against him. It directed Pathanmajra to appear before it on November 12.

Last week, a notice was also pasted outside the MLA's government residence, The Indian Express. He could be declared a proclaimed offender if he fails to appear before the court, which could lead to the attachment of his properties.

During the interview on Friday, Pathanmajra denied the allegations against him and described the case as a “political conspiracy” that was aimed at silencing voices that speak for the residents of Punjab, PTI reported.

“In Punjab, ministers and MLAs are not consulted on key matters,” the news agency quoted the MLA as saying. “Freedom of speech is being curtailed. After losing in Delhi, those [AAP] leaders have now taken over Punjab, and they are ruining it the same way.”

In February, the Bharatiya Janata Party defeated the AAP in the Delhi Assembly polls.

Pathanmajra had earlier accused the AAP's Delhi unit of “controlling Punjab ministers like puppets”, The Indian Express reported.

“I spoke about mismanagement during the floods, and soon after that, cases started coming up against me,” the newspaper quoted Pathanmajra as having said in a statement after being booked.

Source: Scroll
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