Jalebi Baba who lured several women to sexually exploit them for years gets 14-year jail term

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, January 11

The Fast Track Court Judge Balwant Singh sentenced Billu Ram alias Amarpuri, also known as Jalebi Baba, for 14 years in jail under POCSO Act while also awarding seven years jail term each in two rape charges while five years in jail in IT Act. All the sentences will go concurrently, the court had stated. The prosecution lawyer informed that they are yet to get the copy of the judgement in the case.

Tohana police registered a case against Jalebi Baba on July 19, 2018 under sections 292, 293, 294 376, 384, 509 of the IPC and section 67A of the IT Act. Later when it came to light that one of the victims was a minor, relevant sections of POCSO Act too were added in the FIR.

Tohana advocate Vijay Krishan Ranga represented one of the victims and assisted the prosecution in the case said that Jalebi Baba in Tohana, who was convicted by the Fast Track Court in Fatehabad district for 14 years in jail yesterday, lured scores of women including a minor on the pretext of offering magical remedy of their ills and to ward off impact of evil spirits on them while claiming that he was an expert in black magic.

Advocate Ranga who represented one of the victims along with the government prosecution officer, said that Jalebi Baba was hailing 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 that police got CDs of sexual abuse of nearly 120 women during the investigation. On the basis of the footage in the CDs, the police managed to trace six women of which five victims agreed to depose against him in the court, he said.

Ranga said that the court had relied on the evidence of three women including a minor besides other evidence to convict him in the case. He informed that the court had also imposed a collective fine of Rs 35,000 under separate sections in which he was convicted in the court. He was in jail for nearly four and a half years which will be deducted from the total jail term, he said adding that they could consider challenging the jail term in the High Court after going through the judgement.

The police officials who were part of the investigating team against Baba revealed that he used to lure the women while claiming to possess black magic powers. “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”, reveals a police official who was part of the investigation team.

The Advocate Ranga said that the SHO of Tohana police station got information about his crime on getting the video clip on a mobile phone. “Later, the police managed to trace out the videos which were shared on the social media”, he said adding that they traced some of the victims on the basis of CDs.

Revealing the modus operandi, the prosecution stated, “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 adding that it seemed that most of victims could not want to come to police out of social stigma and shame.

Advocate Gajender Pandey who defended the convicted Baba in the court stated that the case is entirely dependent on the contents of the CDs and the requisite certificate under the section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act was not given in the court for authenticity. “We are waiting for the judgement and will challenge it in the high court”, he said.

Advocate Ranga informed that Baba was firstly booked for sexual abuse on the complaint of a woman in 2017. Besides, he is also facing another case under the NDPS Act as the police had recovered drugs from him which are under trial in the court, he added.