In yet another case of suspected honour killing, the police on Saturday arrested school teacher Kapur Singh and his wife Balwinder Kaur of Subhanpur village of Hoshiarpur district for murdering their 25-year-old daughter, Manpreet Kaur, who wanted to marry a man belonging to a different caste. The body was recovered from the roadside near Baghora village on Thursday.
Talking to reporters, Senior Superintendent of Police, Hoshiarpur, Sukhchain Singh said preliminary investigations into the murder of Manpreet revealed her parents did not agree with her marrying Sandeep Kumar of Motian village as he belonged to a Scheduled Caste. The parents were insisting that she settle abroad instead.
On December 5, as Manpreet insisted that she would go with Mr. Kumar, her parents and a family acquaintance, Satnam, tried to stop her. When she did not relent, Satnam allegedly struck her with a sharp-edged weapon killing her on the spot. They later carried the body to the fields and changed the clothes. Later, the body was dumped on the roadside.
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Satnam’s driver, Gurinder Singh, drove Manpreet’s scooter to the spot and abandoned it there to create an impression that she been killed in an accident. The girl’s parents then approached the local police and concocted a story that some cash and jewellery given to Manpreet, who had gone to attend a function, had been stolen from her and that a villager had informed them about her death. Discrepancies in the statements provided by the parents led to solving of the case, the district police chief claimed.
The family also paid a bribe of Rs. 1.50 lakh through another acquaintance to get the case registered as accidental death. Police claimed to have recovered the bribe money, the weapon and the car used in the murder. While Satnam has been arrested, Gurinder Singh is still at large.