Former Punjab MLA Simarjeet Singh Bains surrenders in Ludhiana rape case

Three months after declared proclaimed offender, the ex-MLA of Atam Nagar and Lok Insaf Party finally arrested for raping 44-year-old woman, who lodged complaint against him in November 2020

Simarjeet Singh Bains, 52, a former MLA from Atam Nagar constituency and head of the Lok Insaf Party, surrendered before a Ludhiana court on Monday in a rape case.

Police took custody of the former MLA whose younger brother, Karamjit Singh Bains, and aide Sukhchain Singh are already behind bars in the case.

On April 12, judicial magistrate Harsimranjit Kaur had declared Bains a proclaimed offender in the rape case after he neither appeared before the court nor responded to warrants. On April 21, a case was registered against him for “non-appearance in response to a proclamation”.

The 44-year-old complainant had stated that Simarjeet Singh Bains had raped her multiple times after she had approached him for help in a property dispute case. Though the woman lodged a complaint against Bains on November 16, 2020, a first information report (FIR) was registered on July 10, 2021, on the court’s directions against Bains, his two brothers Karamjit Singh Bains, Paramjit Singh Bains, aides Sukhchain Singh, Pardeep Kumar, Baljinder Kaur and Jasveer Kaur.