On run for 2 years, rape-accused Gurdaspur self-styled pastor Jashan Gill surrenders before police

Self-styled pastor Jashan Gill, who was on the run for two years after he was accused of raping a 22-year-old woman in 2023, surrendered before the Gurdaspur police on Wednesday, after his brother and sister were arrested for providing him shelter.

His brother, Prem Masih, was arrested from Jammu on Monday while his sister was nabbed a day later.

Gurdaspur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Aditya said, “Finally, persistent efforts of the police bore fruit as he was left with no option but to surrender after his brother and sister were arrested. We will produce him before the court and seek his remand. We will not spare anyone who provided him shelter or helped him in any other way when he was absconding.”

Police had intensified efforts to nab the pastor after the victim’s father moved the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeking a CBI inquiry in the case and accused the police of showing laxity in arresting the accused.

This came came close on the heels of a Mohali court sentencing another self-styled Christian pastor, Bajinder Singh, 42, to life imprisonment in a 2018 sexual harassment case on April 1.

In Jashan Gill’s case, the victim’s family had alleged that the self-styled pastor had forced her to undergo an abortion that eventually claimed her life in 2023.

“Our family used to go to a church in Abul Khair village of Gurdaspur, where the pastor, Jashan Gill, misled my daughter and raped her repeatedly. She was 22 and a student of bachelor of computer applications (BCA). He got her pregnant and later forced her to undergo an abortion by a nurse at Khokhar village,” the father had told the media after filing a plea in the HC on April 5.

Accusing the nurse of negligence, he had said: “The abortion was performed carelessly, after which she caught an infection. My daughter complained of a stomach pain and was hospitalised. After an ultrasound, we came to know that she had undergone an abortion, and then she was taken to Amritsar, where she died during treatment.”

The father had also alleged police corruption, claiming that the pastor had bribed officials, which is why he had not been arrested yet.

“I have got threats, so I left my village. I want justice for my daughter. Punjab Police have done nothing. I demand a CBI inquiry into the incident and have approached the high court,” he had said.