More arrests likely in Punjab honour killing

HOSHIARPUR - More arrests are likely to take place in the honour killing of a young woman by her father in Punjab while a man who killed his sister for “going around with a couple of boys” was arrested nearly a month after the crime, officials said Sunday.

Sher Singh of Dasuya town in Hoshiarpur was arrested Saturday for murdering his daughter Gurjit Kaur, 20, and injuring her boyfriend Gagandeep Singh after finding them in an objectionable position in his house.

“Gagandeep was operated by doctors late yesterday (Saturday). His condition is stable. Hopefully we will be able to record his statement…and based on it we will arrest other accused,” Balbir Singh, investigation officer of the case, told IANS.

Police said the case seemed to be that of honour killing. The victim was first strangled to death and then given electric shocks to make it appear as a case of electrocution.

Sher Singh’s wife told the police that he was infuriated that his daughter called Gagandeep to her house late Friday night while her parents were away.

In another honour killing case, Mani Partap Kaushal, 20, was arrested Saturday for murdering his sister Kanchan June 29 at Mahilpur town in this Punjab district.

Kaushal doubted his sister’s character and strangulated her before throwing her body in a canal, police said.

“(Kaushal’s father) Surinder Singh had filed a missing complaint of his daughter July 1. We found the body of Kanchan in a canal in Kapurthala district. While recording the statements of the family members, we suspected the involvement of the deceased’s brother in this killing,” Jagir Singh, investigation officer of this case, told IANS.

“During the interrogation, he (Kaushal) broke down and confessed his crime. He said that Kanchan was bringing a bad name to the family as she was going around with a couple of boys and therefore he killed her,” he added.