Slain orchestra girl’s family alleges threats to life
BATHINDA: Manjit Kaur, the slain orchestra girl Janu’s mother, on Friday alleged that she and her husband have received life threats from “some people” to withdraw the case from the Bathinda court.
“Some people came to our house at the behest of the accused last month and offered us Rs 12 lakh to withdraw the case. They warned us that if we do not withdraw the case, they will kill us,” she said after another adjournment of the case in a local court on Friday.
Orchestra girl, Kulwinder Kaur, known as Janu in the family, was shot dead by a drunk man at a marriage function at Maur in Bathinda district on the night of December 3, 2016. The accused, identified as Lucky Kumar alias Billa, was later arrested.
The incident had rocked the national media, with the video of the dancing girl collapsing on the stage and her bleeding body being dragged by some men out of the marriage palace had gone viral.
On Friday, Manjit started crying after the hearing on her application for adding Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), amounting to murder charge, in the FIR in the case was adjourned to next week. This was the seventh adjournment in a row after the completion of the arguments over the Punjab and Haryana high court’s nod for amending the FIR by replacing Section 304 causing an accidental death) with Section 302.
Manjit said, “After today’s adjournment, we pleaded for justice to the judge. Now, he has assured us that an order will be pronounced on our plea on July 20, the next date of hearing.”
Manjit had suffered a fracture in her left foot last month as she slipped from the stairs at the Bathinda district court where she has been going for justice for over six months now.
Her same foot had also got fractured on the night of December 3, 2016, in the melee after her daughter was shot dead.the family has been running from pillar to post for speedy trial in the case in which The Punjab and Haryana high court had on December 23, 2017, given its nod to an amendment in the FIR, replacing the Section 304 with Section 302 of IPC. The order had come in response to an application from accused Billa for his release on regular bail.
The HC, during the hearing of the bail plea, rather grilled superintendent of police (SP) Bikramjit Singh for replacing Section 302 with section 304 in his investigation report.