Haryana Police hunt for four honour killing accused
By IANSWednesday, June 23, 2010
BHIWANI - Haryana Police have constituted three special teams to nab four absconding accused booked for the honour killing of two teenaged lovers in Bhiwani district last week, an official said Wednesday.
The bodies of Monika, 18, resident of Neemdiwala village, and Pinku, 19, of Manheru village, were found hanging from a tree June 20 in Neemdiwala village.
“We have arrested the girl’s father Dalbir Singh and uncle Kuldeep Singh and they are currently on police remand till June 25. We had also booked the girl’s mother, aunt and two brothers in this case and they are absconding. We have constituted three special teams to arrest them,” Ashwin, district police chief, told IANS Wednesday.
“The postmortem report indicated that there were injuries on the bodies and it seems that the two were first beaten to death and then the bodies were hanged to give an impression of suicide. The father and uncle of the deceased girl have admitted that they had killed the couple to save the honour of their family,” he added.
The boy and the girl were in love for the last many months and were planning to marry. Parents of Monika, a Class 11 student, were against the alliance as the boy and the girl were from the same gotra (sub-caste).
Meanwhile, some villagers have come out in support of the accused family members and submitted a memorandum to senior police officials.
In the memorandum, they have stated that the girl’s parents, brothers and relatives were innocent and they were not present in the village when this incident happened.
“Yes, I have received a memorandum from the villagers. But they are not the authority to decide anything in this case. Our investigation is on and we will make sure that full justice is be done in this case,” said Ashwin.
Haryana’s conservative families are notorious for the honour killings that many times involve boys and girls from the same gotra.
In March, a local court in Karnal awarded death sentence to five people for the honour killing of a young couple who had married in 2007 against the wishes of their community.
