Pastor Gill’s sister held for sheltering him

The Gurdaspur police have tightened the noose around Pastor Jashan Gill by arresting his sister for sheltering him. She was nabbed from Abul Khair village near Paniyar on Tuesday.

Gill, a self-styled pastor, has been accused of raping a 22-year-old woman, who was his disciple, in 2023 and was subsequently was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) by a court.

The girl’s father today met senior officers and urged them to arrest the pastor as soon as possible. Earlier, he had accused the cops of showing laxity but today he said he was confident that the accused would be nabbed soon.

The SSP refused to share more details saying the “case was under investigation”.

“The pressure on the pastor is slowly building up. There are chances that he may surrender in a court because he knows that the cops have zeroed in on him,” said an investigator. The case against Gill was registered in 2023 after the victim’s family had alleged that he had forced the victim to undergo abortion, which claimed her life.

“My daughter was a student of bachelor of computer engineering. She accompanied other family members to congregations regularly held by Gill in Abul Khair village. Gill misled my daughter by making several promises and raped her repeatedly,” said the girl’s father.

He had also claimed that the pastor had bribed police officers to dilute the case. However, he made none of these allegations today. “I have already approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court to demand a CBI inquiry,” he said. The SSP said the police had been making continuous efforts to arrest Gill ever since an FIR was registered against him in 2023. The case assumes significance as it comes close on the heels of a Mohali court sentencing self-styled Pastor Bajinder Singh to life imprisonment on April 1 in a sexual harassment case.

Punjab