20-yr-old woman killed for honour in Patiala village

FATHER AMONG TWO ARRESTED FOR MURDER OF VICTIM PINKY RANI WHO HAD AN AFFAIR WITH HER NEIGHBOUR SURINDER RAM

PATIALA: Three months after 20-year-old Pinky Rani went missing, the police have arrested two persons, including her father, for allegedly killing her for honour in Shutrana village of Patiala district.

The accused have been identified as Jeet Ram, Pinky’s father, and Balwinder Singh, son of village sarpanch, Sita Rani. Both the accused were arrested on Monday and confessed to killing Pinky on August 4, before throwing her body into the Bhakra canal near Khanauri the same day.

Patran station house officer Inderpal Singh Chauhan said Pinky had an affair with her neighbour Surinder Ram, but her father was against it.

“Even the village panchayat asked both Pinky and Surinder not to meet again, but they continued to do so, following which Jeet discussed took up the matter with Balwinder, who conspired to kill Pinky,” the SHO said.

The SHO said Pinky was murdered on August 4 night when she went to meet Surinder on the rooftop of her house.

“Pinky’s father followed her and attacked her with a sharpedged weapon on the head, before throwing her from the rooftop. Pinky died on the spot and Jeet bundled her body in a gunny bag and contacted Balwinder,” SHO added.

The police said Balwinder demanded ₹60,000 from Jeet to dispose of the body. “On the promise of paying the amount in coming days, they threw Pinky’s body into Bhakra canal,” he said.

SHO said after committing the crime, both the accused concocted a story and reported to the police on August 6 that Pinky was kidnapped by Surinder and his family.

“After a three-month investigation, the police found gaps in the sequence of events and grilled Jeet, who revealed Balwinder’s name and his involvement in the crime,” SHO said.

Police have registered case under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidences) of the Indian penal Code against the accused.

“The investigation is still on to oversee the role of other family members of the deceased. The police teams have been sent to Khanauri to gather details of bodies fished out from the canal in past four months,” the police said.