Chandigarh: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Harmeet Pathanmajra has been arrested by Patiala Police in connection with a two-year-old rape case and has been sent to seven-day police remand by a local court.
Pathanmajra, who represents the Sanaur Assembly constituency, was arrested five days ago after returning to India from Australia. Police had earlier issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) against him as he had been absconding for nearly six months.
According to police sources, he was tracked after his arrival in Delhi and subsequently arrested from the Gwalior bypass in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh.
The MLA had earlier approached the Supreme Court seeking relief in the case, with the hearing scheduled around the time of his return to India.
The case dates back to September 1, 2025, when an FIR was registered at Civil Lines police station in Patiala on charges of rape, fraud and criminal intimidation.
The complainant alleged that she came in contact with Pathanmajra through Facebook in 2013-14. He allegedly introduced himself as a divorcee and proposed marriage. Trusting his claims, she agreed, and the two got married at a gurdwara in Jagraon, Ludhiana, on August 14, 2021.
The woman stated that she lived with him as his wife at a residence in Ludhiana. However, in March 2022, when Pathanmajra contested elections on an AAP ticket, she discovered through his affidavit that he was still legally married to his first wife.
She has alleged that the MLA deceived her about his marital status and subjected her to repeated sexual exploitation.
