Remember the Jasleen Kaur case? The much-hyped molestation case that took the nation by storm in 2015. Jasleen Kaur, student union leader of AAP accused a passerby, Sarvjeet Singh, of attempting to molest her at a traffic roundabout. She failed to attend 14 trials on the alleged molestation case.
Following numerous media reports that began to doubt her intentions, when she was continuously found skipping the trials, Jasleen finally attended the court trials, defending her absence in the past 14 hearings. To quote her, “I am not giving up. I will fight until the end and make this reach its logical conclusion.”
As reported to the court, Jasleen is working in Canada, where she initially went for higher studies. She cited ‘academic commitments’ as her reason behind the continued absence from the previous trials, none of which were however missed by Saravjeet Singh.
She apparently broke down several times as she presented her side of the story last night. As of now, her statements have been recorded, with the next hearing scheduled for 12th December, while her phone, with which she clicked his photograph, has been sent for forensic examination.
For those unaware, a photo uploaded on Jasleen Kaur’s account in late August 2015 had caused a storm on social media. It was of Saravjeet Singh, whom Jasleen accused of attempting to molest her at a traffic roundabout in New Delhi when she was allegedly working as a ‘traffic volunteer’.
Taking immediate cognizance of the issue, the media played their notorious trial, declaring Saravjeet guilty without proof, while Jasleen backed by CM Arvind Kejriwal, filed a police case against the alleged ‘molester’.
However, it was during the trials, when a different picture came out altogether. Saravjeet Singh clarified, both on Facebook and in the court, that it was Jasleen and not him who had misbehaved owing to a traffic dispute, and threatened to have him arrested, following which he was maliciously prosecuted. Even though he is out on bail, he is yet to be declared innocent.
To make matters worse, the Court initially refused to hear his plea, while Jasleen continued to skip trials at whim. While Saravjeet has attended or rather forced to attend 14 trials so far, Jasleen did not attend even one trial. When the authorities attempted to contact her parents, they gave flimsy excuses, such as Jasleen needing time to get over the alleged ‘trauma’, or Jasleen not being able to complete her studies.
This not only gave further wind to allegations that Jasleen was lying all along but also initiated a parallel movement, that called for giving justice to the ‘innocent’ Saravjeet Singh. Going by Jasleen’s statements recorded, it looks like Saravjeet wasn’t wrong at all.
As the case proceeds further, we hope for a just verdict. If Jasleen is correct on her part, she needn’t have skipped the trials for so long. But if Saravjeet is innocent, a judicious verdict on his part would restore the faith in the judiciary, and also relieve him of the burden that an unscrupulous media and a fame-hungry CM had imposed on him 3 years ago.