February 10, 2016 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau
Bathinda: A key witness and mother of the 13-year-old girl who was allegedly molested and thrown out of a moving Orbit bus in April last year turned hostile today. She refused to identify the accused during the court hearing on Tuesday (Feb. 9).
“I was not in my conscious state due to the sudden death of my daughter when police were recording my statements,” said Shinder Kaur during the court hearing.
However, in her statement to the police on April 29, 2015, Shinder had stated that she and her daughter boarded the bus from Moga at 4pm that day and that both were pushed off the bus after being subjected to indecent gestures and lewd comments by the accused following an altercation over the bus ticket price.
On the bases of her statement to the police a case was registered against Orbit Bus staff members Sukhwinder Singh alias Pamma; Gurdeep Singh alias Jimmy; Amar Ram; and Ranjit Singh under sections 302, 307, 354 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, Section 3 of the SC/ST Act and Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The incident that happened at Gill village on the Moga-Kotkapura road, about 10 km from here, left the girl dead and her mother seriously wounded.
Earlier Shinder Kaur’s husband had also turned hostile.
It is notable that Badal government had given the family Rs 24 lakh as compensation, besides offering a government job to one member of the family.
Meanwhile, the court adjourned the case and fixed March 25 to resume hearing.
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Related Topics: Moga Orbit Bus Incident