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Winnipeg Sikh who kidnapped alleged
molesters spared jail
WSN Network
WINNIPEG: A
member of a small Sikh sect who claims he was repeatedly sexually
abused for years by priests at a Winnipeg temple has been spared
jail time after kidnapping two of his alleged abusers while armed
with a sword.
The 26-year-old,
who pleaded guilty to two counts of forcible confinement and a
single count of assault causing bodily harm, was sentenced last
Tuesday to a suspended sentence and a year of supervised probation
for his crimes.
Judge Catherine
Carlson said a conditional discharge would send a message to the
public that it endorsed vigilante justice.
"I am
sympathetic to your situation ... but the court simply cannot
sanction individuals taking the law in any way into their own hands
and confronting the perpetrators in a threatening way."
The incident
dates back to December 2006, when the man entered the Gurdawara
Nanaksar in an effort to confront the priests there for allegedly
sexually abusing him for as many as seven years up until he was 15.
He was armed
with a ceremonial sword, which he maintains he was carrying out of
religious tradition, and not as a threatening weapon.
The man then
forced the priests into a vehicle and drove them to his parents'
home, where he hoped to have them admit to the alleged sexual abuse
while his mother and sister listened.
The judge heard
that the man asked one of the priests, "Do you remember how many
times you did that to me?" - a question met with a sarcastic reply.
The man then
lunged toward the priest, who had his finger caught in a bracelet,
causing him to break it. Police were called and the incident ended
without further violence.
Police later
brought forward multiple sex-abuse-related charges against three of
the temple's priests after the man made a formal statement to
police. Those charges are still before the courts, and a preliminary
hearing is set for November.
The
allegations have shocked and divided the Sikh community.
3 September 2008
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