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  Sikh Priests to Stand Trial on Molestation Accusation

By Paul Turenne
Winnipeg Sun
August 20, 2009

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/winnipeg/2009/08/20/10524961-sun.html

Three Sikh priests accused of molesting a member of their Winnipeg temple when he was a boy will stand trial on their charges.

Provincial court Judge Michel Chartier ruled yesterday there is sufficient evidence to try Bakhshish Singh, Dalbag Singh and Kuljit Singh on charges related to the alleged abuse of a temple member for several years during the early 1990s.

Chartier made the ruling following a one-day preliminary hearing yesterday. The evidence given at the hearing is subject to a publication ban.

The men were arrested in December 2006 and their arrests came shortly after two of them were abducted at swordpoint by two men, including the man who accused them of the abuse.

That man was convicted last summer of unlawful confinement and assault causing bodily harm in connection with the abduction. He received a one-year suspended sentence.

Court heard during his case that he claimed to have been assaulted at least 100 times by the priests while he was a member of the Gurdwara Nanaksar temple in St. Vital.

All three priests have always maintained their innocence.

All three are charged with sex assault, invitation to sexual touching and sexual interference, while Dalbag and Kuljit Singh are also charged with engaging in anal intercourse with a minor.

The trial date is expected to be set next month.

Contact: paul.turenne@sunmedia.ca

 
 

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