Tarn Taran woman assault case: Key-witness takes U-turn

In the case of thrashing of a woman by cops in Tarn Taran, the key witness, Jagjit Singh, has retracted from his earlier statement, where he had claimed that he was being pressured by the police to give pre-decided versions to the inquiry committee.

He is now claiming that the victim, Harbarinder Kaur, and her family had engineering a conspiracy against the police.

Jagjit and Harbarinder are cousins and he had recorded the video of the incident that was circulated in the media.

Kaur held a press conference on Sunday, accompanied by Congress spokesperson Nimisha Mehta.

The victim said: "Jagjit Singh has started pressing us to reach a settlement with the police. He has also said that his statement given to the police on June 25, where he had alleged that he was pressured by SI Gurmeet Singh to give a pre-decided and dictated statement to the police." The SI was suspended after these allegations were made out.

Mehta said: "The case of Harbarinder Kaur should be tried by a fast-track court. There are several kinds of pressures brought to bear on the victim in such cases and the earlier the case is settled the better."

Jagjit Singh, the cousin of the victim, said, "My statement against the police was made under pressure from the family. Now, after conversations within the family (which he has recorded), I have come to know that the entire incident was a conspiracy by the family. I have asked them to not to do this. If they do not listen to me, I will present the recordings of the family conversations before the high court on the next date of hearing."