'Jalebi baba' lured women by offering magical remedies

Deepender Deswal

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Hisar, January 11

“Jalebi baba”, who was yesterday sentenced by a fast-track court in Fatehabad district to 14 years in jail, had lured scores of women, including a minor, on the pretext of offering them magical remedies for their ills and to ward off the impact of “evil spirits” on them, claiming that he was an expert in black magic.

Police got cds of sexual abuse

The police got CDs of sexual abuse of nearly 120 women and on the basis of the footage in the CDs, the police managed to trace six women, of whom five victims agreed to depose against him. Vijay Krishan Ranga, Tohana advocate

Judge Balwant Singh had sentenced Billu Ram, alias Amarpuri, 55, under the POCSO Act while also awarding seven-year jail term each in two rape charges and five years in jail under the IT Act. All sentences will run concurrently, the court had stated. Meanwhile, the prosecution lawyer said they were yet to get the copy of the judgment in the case.

The Tohana police had registered a case against him on July 19, 2018, under Sections 292, 293, 294 376, 384 and 509 of the IPC and Section 67A of the IT Act.

Tohana advocate Vijay Krishan Ranga, who represented one of the victims along with the government prosecution officer, said “Jalebi baba” hailed from Mansa district in Punjab and had come to Tohana about two decades ago to sell jalebis. His wife had died while his two children, including a girl, were staying in Punjab and used to visit him occasionally.

Ranga said the court had relied on the evidence of three women, including a minor, besides other evidence to convict him in the case. He was in jail for nearly four and a half years, which will be deducted from the total jail term, he said.

The police officials, who were part of the investigating team against Baba, said, “His nearly 150 square yard ashram is located in a populated locality in Tohana. The ashram had four rooms, including two in the basement. He had sexually abused women in this basement after offering them intoxicants like opium in tea in most of the cases,” said a police official who was part of the investigation team.

Ranga said the SHO of the Tohana police station got information about his crime on getting the video clip on a mobile phone. “Later, the police managed to trace the videos which were shared on the social media,” he said.

“He was alone in this crime. He used to offer tea laced with intoxicants and then took the victim to his basement. He used to fix the mobile phone on a stand to film his act of sexual abuse of the woman,” he said.