Cop, wife watch as daughter killed for family ‘honour’

In a case of suspected honour killing, a Delhi police head constable and his wife have been accused of being involved in a conspiracy to kill their 20-year-old daughter in Jhajjar’s Surheti village in India’s Chandigarh.

The couple was reportedly upset that the girl, a nursing student, was having an affair with a boy from a neighbouring village.

According to the FIR, the victim’s maternal uncle, Jaswant (40), strangulated her in the presence of her parents. The father, Vedpal (48), is an Army veteran who joined Delhi police after taking premature retirement, reports the Times of India.

Both Vedpal and his wife Moni Devi have been arrested while Jaswant is on the run. Jhajjar police said that initially, the family tried to project the death as suicide but villagers told sleuths they suspected it to be a case of honour killing.

In the FIR, police officers stated the victim Vandana was in love with Rahul, a resident of the neighbouring Dhakla village. Both belonged to the Jat community. When Vandana’s family came to know about the affair, they asked her to stay away from the boy but she continued to meet him.

‘On the intervening night of October 24 and 25, Vandana’s maternal uncle and parents again asked her not to meet the boy in the future. When she refused to listen to them, the uncle allegedly strangulated her at around 1.30am,’ stated the FIR.

Investigating officer, sub-inspector Satbir Singh told TOI that both parents have accepted to killing their daughter. ‘During interrogation, they were crying and appeared remorseful. Both repeatedly said they tried to give everything to their daughter but she had gone out of their hands. The uncle, who was called by the family to persuade her to stay from the boy, perpetrated the crime in the presence of the parents’, he said.

A case of murder and criminal conspiracy has been registered against the three. Vedpal and his wife were produced before a local court on Thursday and sent to jail. Police teams are conducting raids to nab Jaswant.

Source: timesofindia