By IANS,
Toronto : Punjab-born Jagdeep Chahal, who is accused of drugging and raping a woman in a Toronto nightclub two weeks ago, has been released on a $10,000 bail. The 32-year-old Indian Canadian had surrendered to the police Saturday after a surveillance video camera identified him as the suspect. The video had shown him entering the nightclub with another man for drinks.
Chahal, who is married and lives in the Punjabi-dominant Brampton suburb of Toronto with his parents, will appear in court next month to face the charges.
In releasing him on bail Sunday, the court ordered him not to visit bars or drink. He was also barred from visiting Toronto’s downtown entertainment district.
Further, the alleged rapist can leave his home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. only in the company of his parents or his wife.
Chahal is accused of mixing a drug into the victim’s drink and then raping her in the bathroom of the nightclub in the heart of downtown Toronto on the night of Jan 22. But during his bail hearing, Chahal maintained that he was innocent.
When the media swarmed him after the bail hearing, he ducked questions and escaped into the crowded Eaton Centre.
A woman lawyer representing Chahal said he was innocent.
“My client is not guilty,” she said outside the court.