CHANDIGARH, India — In a major embarrassment for the Punjab Police and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), MLA Harmit Singh Pathanmajra, who has been absconding since being booked on rape charges, has reportedly fled to Australia. The development came to light after the legislator appeared in a video interview with an Australia-based Punjabi web channel, confirming his departure from India.
Pathanmajra, the first-time MLA from Sanour, has been on the run since a case was registered against him on September 1. In the video, he denied all allegations, branding the charges a “political conspiracy” orchestrated to silence his voice against the state’s leadership.
”I will return home only after securing bail,” the MLA declared, adding that he has “full faith in the judiciary” to clear his name. He alleged that ministers and MLAs in Punjab are being curtailed and are not consulted on key matters.
The Patiala police had already intensified efforts to locate the fugitive leader, including issuing a look-out notice. His failure to appear before the court has led a Patiala court to initiate proceedings to declare him a Proclaimed Offender (PO).
The rape and cheating case was registered at the Civil Lines police station following a complaint by a Zirakpur-based woman. The complainant alleged that Pathanmajra had misrepresented himself as divorced and entered into a relationship with her, eventually marrying her in 2021 while still being married to his first wife. She further accused him of continued sexual exploitation, criminal intimidation, and sending her “obscene” material.
This is not the first time the MLA has evaded law enforcement. The legislator had previously managed to escape police custody when a Punjab Police team went to arrest him at a relative’s residence in Karnal, Haryana. Police had claimed the escape involved gunshots and stone-pelting by his supporters, an accusation Pathanmajra has denied, claiming he fled as he feared being killed in a “fake encounter.”
