Former Akali minister acquitted in rape case

Chandigarh : Former Shiromani Akali Dal minister Sucha Singh Langah, who was facing rape and cheating charges, was on Monday acquitted in the case by a court in Punjab's Gurdaspur town.

The rape case was filed against him by a woman who is an employee of the Punjab Police Vigilance Department.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Prem Kumar acquitted Langah after the complainant turned hostile in February this year.

"The truth has finally emerged. The case was registered against me was out of political vendetta," Langah said after the acquittal.

He had surrendered before the Gurdaspur court in October last year, just days ahead of the Lok Sabha by-election for the Gurdaspur parliamentary seat.

Langah, who had remained underground after the registration of the case was booked under Sections 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code at the Gurdaspur City police station.The case was registered following a complaint by a Punjab Police woman constable who alleged that she had been sexually exploited and raped by Langah since 2009 under the threat of death.

She also said that she was a classmate of Langah's daughter in college.

An intimate video of a woman with Langah went viral before the bypoll.

The complainant later told the court that it was not her in the video and had filed the complaint under pressure.

The Akali Dal had immediately expelled Langah from the party.