LUDHIANA:The uncle and mother of a 26-year-old man, who allegedly eloped with a minor girl from a different religion nine year ago, are suspected to have drowned after they jumped into a canal frustrated with police harassment. Villagers continue to scan the canal from many bridges down the stream but have failed to recover the dead bodies.
On December 22, Gurmail Kaur, 65 had allegedly jumped into the canal from
Khatra bridge on
Bathinda branch canal after being tortured by police over his son's act nine years ago. The next day, her brother-in -law
Amarjeet Singh, 50 also allegedly jumped into the canal from the Jagera bridge unable to bear the loss of his sister-in-law.
"Villagers found the shawl and shoes of Gurmail on the sides of the canal near Khatra bridge, Amarjeet Singh had jumped into the canal at Jagera bridge in front of his nephew Amandeep Singh while they were searching for the dead body of Gurmail. "Amandeep had tried to save his uncle but couldn't do so", said
Malkeet Singh, a neighbour. He added they have constituted teams to keep a watch on the canal.
Villagers say they are keeping a watch at various bridges downstream of the canal to recover the dead bodies. "We have villagers at Jagera Bridge, Kanganwal Bridge, Kalyan Bridge and Sudhar Bridge of the canal to ensure that the dead bodies are recovered. We hope to recover the bodies in a day or two," said Raga, a villager.
Villagers maintained that the duo had taken the extreme step after being tortured by the police. "We feel that the family of the accused were living in a state fear as they were repeatedly taken to the police station at Dehlon for questioning in the case. As a result they wouldn't come to the village and lived in the school at Kamsar Gurdwara where Amarjeet Singh worked as guard. Five days ago, cops picked up Gurmail for questioning and beat her up and the next morning we heard she jumped into the canal," said
Balwant Kaur, a Panchayat member.
Police meanwhile have stuck to the old version. "Had they jumped into the canal their dead bodies would have come out till now. The matter appears suspicious", said Kanwaljeet Singh, Station House officer (SHO) Dehlon Police Station. He refuted the villagers' allegations.
