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OPINION: Chilliwack sexual assault victim angry how defendant can continue to delay the case

After firing 4 lawyers, asking for a Punjabi translator mid-trial, now he makes a Charter challenge
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Ruppreet Singh Pawar went on trial in provincial court in Chilliwack on Feb. 23, 2023 facing a charge of sexual assault from July 2018. Pawar has delayed the proceedings numerous times over the four-plus years by firing his lawyer, at least four times. (Facebook photo)

A Chilliwack victim of an alleged rape is exasperated at the length of time the case has taken to finally come to a close, yet now the accused is creating yet a further delay.

Crown counsel Aaron Burns and defence Brij Mohan both concluded their cases in the trial of Ruppreet Singh Pawar charged in the July 2018 sexual assault of a female co-worker, who The Progress is not naming.

Mohan told Judge Andrea Ormiston the defence case was complete in provincial court on March 16. He also advised the court, however, he was making a charter breach application and to have the charges dropped.

Mohan did not go into the details of the alleged breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms except to say he alleges a breach of section 7 and that it involves “lost or destroyed evidence.”

Section 7 of the charter says that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”

The details of Mohan’s complaint that he says warrants the charge to be dropped will not be heard in court until April 3 at the earliest.

Pawar was a co-worker of the alleged victim in a health-care setting in Abbotsford. The now 41-year-old victim was 36 when the alleged assault occurred on the bleachers at Chilliwack Secondary School in the early hours of July 18, 2018.

On the witness stand, the victim said she had a good working relationship with Pawar. The accused was starting a night shift and the victim said she agreed to give him an orientation.

Burns, the prosecutor, began the case by going through a text-message thread between the victim and Pawar leading up to the alleged assault. She said she became “annoyed” during their exchange as he kept changing the subject while she was trying to arrange a time to meet for an orientation.

She lived in Chilliwack while Pawar was in Abbotsford, and during their text exchange, he said he was on his way to Chilliwack. He asked her to go for a drive.

“I was super-confused because there was no reason to go for a drive with him,” she said.

She testified that she kept trying to meet him at Tim Hortons to simply go over the night-shift routine, but Pawar wanted to meet somewhere else.

“I just found it was very, very strange,” she said. “We had never hung out outside of work before.”

Eventually, the victim agreed to go with Pawar in his truck, and they ended up at Chilliwack Secondary School on the bleachers. After walking around the school track, the victim testified that Pawar tried to hold her hand, she pulled it back then he grabbed her and kissed her.

He then is accused of putting his hands up her shirt, pulling her pants down, and eventually after fighting and being loud, she said he was successful in raping her.

Beyond the terrible details of the alleged sexual assault this is a case that, as I wrote about previously, illustrates the flaws in our criminal justice system tilted in favour of the accused.

Pawar caused repeated delay leading up to trial by firing lawyer after lawyer. I’m not entirely clear of the number, but Mohan is at least Pawar’s fifth lawyer, and might be his sixth or seventh.

Many months ago I spoke to the victim who said she couldn’t believe how many times Pawar was able to delay the proceedings.

READ MORE: OPINION: Chilliwack sexual assault victim exasperated by nearly 5-year delay getting to trial

“The justice system says the accused has a right to a speedy trial. I agree. But I should also have that same right.”

Every time Pawar fired a lawyer, is was an average of nine months for the next lawyer to get up to speed and take the case forward.

With a trial finally scheduled for March 2022, he didn’t show up. That delay put the trial over to last month, Feb. 23.

“It just puts my life on hold and it is re-traumatizing because I have to worry about the trial and I have to keep recounting the incident in my head, so that I don’t forget anything when being questioned.”

After one day of testimony, and despite working as a registered psychiatric nurse for years, and going through four-plus years of interviews and pre-trial hearings, Pawar said he needed a Punjabi translator, which caused further delay.

Now the Charter application delays things further for the victim.

Delays in court proceedings are top of mind for the Public Prosecution Service and the local Crown counsel office who know that if cases are not resolved in a reasonable time, charges can be tossed out.

The so-called Jordan principle, which involved the Supreme Court of Canada putting specific parameters on the “reasonable time” vagary of section 11(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which “entitles anyone charged with a crime to the right to be heard within a reasonable time.”

Those parameters Crown must adhere to are 18 months for provincial matters. As of April 3, it will be pushing 57 months since Pawar was charged and still his alleged victim has no justice.

But again, as I’ve pointed out before, Jordan only applies to the accused, not the victim.

“There is no statutory or constitutional punishment on the defence for dragging their feet,” a lawyer who didn’t want to be named told me.

“If the defendant is in jail pending trial, then the punishment is that he may remain there for longer. If the defendant is on bail, then the bail binds him for longer.

“At present, only the defendant has a right to a fair trial and only the defendant has a right to a speedy trial.”

Why would a man charged with rape want this hanging over his head for five years?

It seems counter-intutitive, but delays usually hurt the prosecution case as defence just needs to create reasonable doubt.

And on it drags.

RELATED: OPINION: Most victims of crime fear the devil they know


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