AAP MLA Flees to Australia Amid Rape Allegations, Sparks Fresh Row in Punjab

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Punjab's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Harmit Singh Pathanmajra, accused of rape, has gone into hiding and is believed to have fled to Australia, according to reports. This development has put the Patiala police under scrutiny as they had been conducting raids at his suspected hideouts. The MLA appeared in a video interview with an Australian-based Punjabi web channel on Friday, where he denied all allegations and termed the case a 'political conspiracy' aimed at silencing voices that speak for Punjab's people. He expressed faith in the judiciary and claimed that he would return home only after securing bail. A Patiala court has already initiated proceedings against Pathanmajra as a proclaimed offender after he failed to appear in connection with the rape case. The MLA escaped police custody in September when they went to arrest him in Haryana's Karnal district. The police had claimed that shots were fired and stones were pelted by his supporters during the arrest attempt. The case against Pathanmajra was registered on September 1 at the Civil Lines police station in Patiala on charges of rape, cheating, and criminal intimidation. A Zirakpur-based woman had filed a complaint, alleging that the MLA misrepresented himself as divorced, entered into a relationship with her, and later married in 2021 while already being married. She accused him of continued sexual exploitation, threats, and sending 'obscene' material to her. The police have issued a look-out notice against the MLA, and his fleeing to Australia has sparked a fresh row in Punjab, with many questioning the authorities' handling of the case.