NRI arrested for suspected honour killing in Punjab

AMRITSAR - A Non-Resident Indian (NRI) will be produced in a court here Wednesday following his arrest Tuesday night for allegedly murdering his teenaged step-daughter in a suspected case of honour killing.

Mehtab Singh was arrested after the police got a tip-off that he had brought his step-daughter Amritpal Kaur, 17, from Brussels, Belgium, earlier this month and clandestinely cremated her here after saying that she died of food poisoning.

Police officials said the death of the girl seemed to be mysterious and that the step-father had shown undue urgency in cremating her.

The police are investigating if the girl was killed by Mehtab Singh as she had fallen in love with a youth, Lakhwinder Singh, in Belgium.

Lakhwinder belonged to another lower caste and this was not to the liking of Mehtab Singh. He is believed to have poisoned her a few days back and got her cremated.

The victim’s mother, Rajbir Kaur, had married Mehtab a few years ago after her husband, Mehtab’s brother, died.