Kaithal, July 05: THE GHOST of honour killings refuses to leave Punjab and Haryana as two more heinous cases were reported from there.
A 17- year- old girl was allegedly murdered by her father, Naresh, when she refused to go with a 50- year- old groom chosen by him in Kasan village of Haryana’s Kaithal district.
Sources said Naresh, who belongs to an economically weaker section of the Jats, had married off his daughter to Jaiveer from Hisar’s Koth village. In lieu, Jaiveer got his niece married to Naresh’s brother, Inder.
This arrangement was not acceptable to the girl and she refused to go with her husband. Naresh, on the pretext of saving the family’s honour, murdered her with Inder’s help.
The police on Monday said a case has been registered against the father and added that they also recovered the girl’s body before the family could cremate it.
However, the villagers claimed that it was a case of suicide and the police were attempting to implicate the girl’s father.
In a similar case, Gagandeep Singh, a Dalit boy, was allegedly beaten to death by members of an influential upper caste family in Lamma Jattpur village of Ludhiana district, Punjab.
The police, which recovered the boy’s body on Sunday night, revealed that Gagandeep had been planning to elope with a minor girl belonging to a Jat family.
The driver of the bus, which the couple had boarded on Saturday, identified and reported them to the girl’s relatives. The boy was beaten up and had been untraceable since Saturday.
The victim’s father, Gurcharan, said he had approached the police and told them that the boy was murdered on Sunday.
He alleged that the girl is the niece of Saudagar Singh — a local Congress leader and former sarpanch. He also alleged that the police did not make any efforts to arrest the accused.
The family has refused to claim Gagandeep’s body and has resolved to protest until the accused are arrested.
The villagers coming out in support of the family blocked the Ludhiana- Ferozepur highway on Monday morning, demanding action against the accused.
A source revealed that a police officer was also involved in shielding the accused.
DIG Ludhiana range Paramraj Singh Umranagal, however, said the police have arrested three persons, including the Congress leader’s son.
He added that the girl has also gone missing and they were trying to trace her.