Rohtak honour killing: Both foster, biological parents of girl arrested
Cops say the 4 planned the killing with the help of a relative who contacted a UP gang
ROHTAK:THE Rohtak police on Friday arrested four persons in connection with the alleged honour killing incident wherein an 18-year-old girl and a sub-inspector were shot dead outside Rohtak court complex in an attack allegedly ordered by the girl’s family as they were upset at her marrying a Dalit.
On Thursday, it was revealed that the victim girl, Mamta Kumari, was adopted at the age of two in 2002 by her foster parents. Her biological father Ramkesh is the brother-in-law of her foster father Ramesh.
Rohtak superintendent of police (SP) Jashandeep Singh Randhawa confirmed to HT that both the foster and biological parents of the girl were arrested.
The police said that both the families were upset at Mamta when she married a Dalit boy Sombir of Singhpura village against their wishes. “It has been found that girl’s foster father Ramesh was present with two hired shooters at the court complex when the attack happened. And her biological father Ramkesh had conducted recee of the spot. Her foster mother Krishna and biological mother Sarita were also involved in the conspiracy of killing her,” Randhawa said, adding that all of them will be produced in court on Saturday.
He said the parents had asked their relative Mohit to kill Mamta and Mohit had contacted a gang from Uttar Pradesh to execute the killings.
The incident happened on Wednesday when Mamta was brought to Rohtak court from Karnal by sub-inspector Narender Kumar for her testimony in a case. When they were leaving, two motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire at them. Both the girl and the SI suffered two bullet shots and were declared dead at the PGIMS in Rohtak. Six teams of police were given the task to solve the crime, Randhawa said.
The investigation revealed that Mamta, a Jat, had eloped with a Dalit boy in August last year and the duo tied the knot at a temple on August 24, 2017. However, Mamta’s father had filed a case against her husband, maintaining that she was a minor, and accused her husband of forging documents to show her as an adult.
The police then arrested Mamta’s husband and sent Mamta to Naari Niketan in Karnal when she refused to go back to her family. Sombir is still in jail pertaining to the case.
The police said they were raiding many locations to nab Mohit and the hired UP gang. Meanwhile, a case was registered under Section 302 (murder) and 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
COURT TO DECIDE WHO WILL CREMATE BODY
Meanwhile, the authorities remained locked in contention regarding whom to hand over the body of the girl for cremation. The state women commission advised police to not hand over her body back to her family that ordered her killing, following which the cops approached the court to decide who should be allowed the cremation. The court may hand over the custody of the body to Mamta’s in-laws now as her marriage has still not been declared illegal. If not, the police or the women commission will be asked to cremate her.