Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Sikh institutions and contexts Sikh institutions Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom · 2011

Scotland: Sikh priest convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in his temple room in Glasgow

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Sikh priest (granthi) visiting from India, resident in the temple

Organization

Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, Otago Street, Glasgow

Spiritual nexus

The complainant was a child at a religious event at the temple where the defendant served as resident priest; his role and his private room inside the gurdwara were what let him isolate her under the pretext of religious/musical instruction.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2011-02-01 · conviction at trial

    Glasgow Sheriff Court, Scotland (Sheriff Anthony Deutch). Surinder Singh, 53, a Sikh priest visiting Scotland from India and resident at the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, was found guilty after trial of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in his room at the temple on 15 January. The girl had been invited to the room under the pretext of receiving classical harmonium instruction; Singh touched her hands, attempted to kiss her on the mouth, and placed food in her mouth. The sheriff stated he found the Crown witnesses credible and rejected the accused's evidence as incredible. Sentence was deferred to the following month.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • priestly standing at the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple
  • use of a private lesson (harmonium/classical music instruction) as the pretext to get the child alone in his room

Primary record

Sources

community outlet court reporting verdict report 'Sikh priest convicted of Glasgow temple sex attack', SikhNet, 2011.

Report of the Glasgow Sheriff Court trial, verdict, and the sheriff's stated reasons for finding the Crown witnesses credible.

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