COURTS: Sikh priests raped prostitute after she turned down sex demands

A prostitute waits for customers in Paris in this file photo. In Glasgow, two men have been convicted of raping a prostitute. Bertrand Langlois/AFP

VANCOUVER DESI

Two Sikh holy men face lengthy jail terms after being convicted of raping a prostitute in Glasgow, Scotland, reports a story in the U.K.’s Daily Record.

Gurnam Singh, 30, and Sukhdev Singh, 36, denied the attack during their trial at the High Court in Glasgow, which heard that the pair stalked the 26-year-old victim before pouncing on her in a doorway close to the Arches nightclub in Glasgow city centre. She was saved by a cyclist who spotted the men dragging her by the wrists after her ordeal, says the article.

The victim recalled in court how she was approached by the pair of men, newly relocted to a Sikh temple in the city’s Pollokshields in April, near the Clydeside.

She said they tried to kiss her but she insisted she was not “working” before walking off. As she waited at a nearby bus stop, they returned to pester her.

She told the jury: “I kept saying I was still not interested and just to leave me alone. I was annoyed and scared.”

She decided to head towards Glasgow Central train station, hoping police would be there.

But the pair– described as priests in court – pursued her and trapped her in Midland Street.

She said: “They tried to talk to me and kiss me. I said ‘no’ again. They were getting more annoyed. They were then pushing me into a doorway where no one could see. I knew what was going to happen. I was crying and saying, ‘Stop, just let me go.’

“I was struggling and trying to get away. The River Clyde was down the way I was being taken and I thought I was going to be thrown in.”

Both men denied the rape allegation. Gurnham claimed the woman had stolen money from them after agreeing to have sex. Married Sukhdev said he was not aware what was happening in the doorway as he had his back turned.

The duo – originally from India – had come to Scotland to work as priests in the Sikh temple at St Andrews Drive, Glasgow.

Their sentencing is scheduled for next month.

Pete Sakes says:

November 2, 2012 at 11:36 am

That’s not true Karamjeet. If it had been a Catholic Priest they would have said a Catholic Priest. You seem to be very defensive.

Karamjeet Singh says:

November 1, 2012 at 8:08 pm

The episode lacks credentials to be true.It seems a frame up of some kind.
The worst part of reporting seems to be a bias against community references-two Sikh priests..Come on! you media guys never write a reference to a Christian man,a Muslim man,a Hindu man etc.Sikhs have no clergy it could be religious workers at the most.Kjs

ed says:

November 3, 2012 at 11:13 am

wow – talk about biased must be a frame – Sikh men dont engage in prostitute sex – only white guys do that

and one admitted that they paid for sex