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Another ‘honour killing’ in Haryana

Youth had come to take back his wife

Body cremated ; tension grips Youth’s village
Court asks State to provide security to Jhajjar groom

Chandigarh: In yet another case of honour killing, villagers allegedly lynched a young man in the presence of the police when he had come to take back his newly-wed wife belonging to the same sub-caste in Haryana’s Jind district.

The incident took place on Wednesday night in Singhwal village, about 165 km from here, when 21-year-old Ved Pal, accompanied by a Warrant Officer of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and 15 Haryana policemen, came to take his wife Sonia along with him.

After getting reports about the presence of Ved Pal, who had married the girl belonging to the same ‘gotra’ four months back against the wishes of her family, a mob of 400 villagers attacked the police party and Warrant Officer Suraj Bhan who were in different vehicles, Jind’s police chief Satheesh Balan said.

Mr. Bhan was dragged out of the vehicle even as Ved Pal tried to escape under the cover of darkness.

While the accompanying policemen managed to rescue Mr. Bhan, Ved Pal fell into the hands of the irate mob which lynched him, Mr. Balan said.

He denied reports that Ved Pal was left to the mercy of the mob by the accompanying policemen.

Mr. Balan said the policemen managed to rescue Mr. Bhan who was injured and taken to Narwana.

Ved Pal’s body was kept on the village road before being removed by the police for post- mortem and was later handed over to his relatives. The body was later cremated in his native Matour village in neighbouring Kaithal district, which was gripped by tension.

The victim’s family members told reporters in Matour that had the police acted on time, they could have saved him.

Cops deployed

Meanwhile, policemen have been deployed near the house of Sonia.

The latest incident comes amid a raging ‘gotra’ controversy involving a young couple from Jhajjar district, where a youth’s family had been directed to leave the village by a local panchayat after he married a girl of the same sub-caste.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday directed the Haryana Government to provide adequate security to the family of the groom.

Earlier, decomposed bodies of Manoj (23) and his wife Babli (19), residents of Karora village in Kaithal district who belonged to the same ‘gotra’, were fished out from a canal in Narnound town in Hisar district after a panchayat opposed their marriage. PTI

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