Barnala: Three women who had separately alleged sexual exploitation on the pretext of marriage climbed an 80ft-high water tank inside the Barnala district administrative complex (DAC) on Wednesday, demanding registration of FIRs on their complaints. The police registered all three FIRs after the women remained atop the tank for nearly nine hours.The women had approached the police with their complaints more than two months ago. They met at the women wing of the district police office on Tuesday while pursuing their respective grievances and decided to take the drastic step together.One FIR was registered at Barnala City police station around 2pm under charges of rape and cheating. Two others were registered about two hours later at Tallewal police station under charges of rape. The women then came down from the tank.In separate complaints, the women alleged that the accused had sexually exploited them on the promise of marriage. One alleged that the relationship continued for more than four years before the man refused to marry her and moved to the UK.Another alleged that the accused had sexually exploited her for months on the promise of marriage and she later learnt that he was already married.The third alleged that the accused sexually exploited her on the same pretext before refusing to marry her, citing differences in their caste backgrounds. She said an engagement was later solemnised after she pressured him, but he still refused to marry her.Barnala SSP Md Sarfaraz Alam said the police had followed due process and sent the complaints for legal opinion earlier this month. “Three FIRs have been registered as per the complaints filed by the aggrieved girls. Due legal process was followed in handling the cases and the matter was sent to DA Legal for legal opinion earlier this month,” he said.He said the district attorney’s report had been awaited before proceeding with the cases and the FIRs were registered after it was received. The women were being medically examined and further investigation was underway.“If the girls had any issues in FIRs getting delayed, they could have met me,” Alam said.
