No charges, arrest after man allegedly ‘desecrates’ Sikh religious book

Peel police say no charges or further action will be taken following an investigation into an incident at a Brampton Gurdwara in which a man allegedly “desecrated” a Gutka Sahib, a Sikh religious book.

Police say on Wednesday, December 2nd, an unknown man visited the Gurdwara Dasmesh Darbar on Ebenezer Road and was provided with Holy Scripture, specifically, a Sukhmani Sahib Gutka. Investigators say its believed he was responsible for causing damage to the Gutka Sahib.

“As he was going down the stairs towards the parking lot, he threw the Gutka Sahib on the ground in the parking lot,” the Gurdwara Dasmesh Darbar wrote in a Facebook post describing the incident. “He then proceeded to his car in the parking lot. As he drove off, he came back around threw more Angs (pages) of Gutka Sahib in the same area.”

Following an investigation and with the cooperation of the Gurdwara and the community, police say they were able to identify the man in question and determined this was not a hate-motivated incident.

“Based on all of the evidence discovered by investigators, officers are confident that this was an isolated incident and was not hate or politically motivated,” read a statement by police who did not provide any further details, citing privacy rights of the individual involved.

“We understand the impact that this incident has had on the community and have worked with community partners to alleviate concerns and address questions that may have arisen.”