Haryana Women’s Commission seeks probe report into sexual harassment case of state Minister

The Haryana Women Commission on Wednesday asked the DG of Chandigarh and Haryana to file a report on allegation against Haryana Minister Sandeep Singh. Earlier the Chandigarh police has registered against Sandeep Singh with sexual harassment of a junior coach.

The allegation against him was of sexual harassment filed by opposition parties who gave a memorandum to the Chairman.

The Chairman Renu Bhatia stated, “Opposition parties gave a memorandum to us for an impartial probe. We wrote to the DG Chandigarh and Haryana to submit the probe report within 15 days. Today we’ve sent a reminder for it.”

On Sunday, a Sarva Khap Mahapanchayat was held in Davla village in Jhajjar, where a resolution was taken and the state government was given an ultimatum to remove the minister from the Cabinet or face protests.

The Khap stated that the Haryana Minister, who has been charged with sexual harassment of a junior coach, would not be allowed to hoist the flag on Republic Day anywhere in the state.

The Khap also stated that they would meet with Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar and state Governor Bandaru Dattatreya to ensure that the “victim” received justice.

Yudhveer Dhankar said, “We will not let state minister Sandeep Singh hoist flag on Republic Day anywhere in Haryana. We’ll also meet Governor and Vice President so that our daughter (victim of alleged sexual assault) gets justice.”

He had further demanded Singh’s arrest and his removal from the cabinet.

“Our demand is that a fair probe should be conducted in the (sexual assault) case related to state minister Sandeep Singh and he should be ousted from the cabinet and arrested,” Yudhveer said.

The decision was made by the Sarva Khap Mahapanchayat in Davla village, Jhajjar district, under the Dhankar-12 Khap (a caste council of 12 villages).

The Khap gave an ultimatum to the state government, demanding that the minister be removed from the Cabinet by January 23.

According to sources, Haryana Minister Sandeep Singh was questioned by police on Sunday after being arrested for sexual harassment.

The Chandigarh police initiated an investigation after filing a FIR against Sandeep Singh under sections 354, 354A, 354B, 342, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

According to sources, the police issued Singh a 41A notice to cooperate with the investigation.

Singh gave up his Sports portfolio after the FIR, but he has not resigned from the Cabinet and is still the Minister for Printing and Stationery.