Victim’s brothers held for honour killing, 3 others still at large

LUCKNOW: With the arrest of two persons here on Wednesday, the city police claimed to have solved the murder of a 21-yearold married woman Saroj Pal and her 22-year-old paramour Suraj Dhanuk, whose bodies were found in the forest on the outskirts near Banshigadi village in Malihabad, on July 27.

According to cops, the duo were victims of honour killing. Police said the woman’s two brothers, a cousin, husband and a relative murdered her and her paramour. They were embarrassed as she had eloped with her paramour after two years of marriage. Her brothers have been arrested while three other accused are still at large.

“We suspected it to be the case of honour killing since the beginning when the two bodies were found. Police teams were working on the same line and subsequently managed to arrest the woman’s brothers who later confessed to the crime and narrated the entire sequence of incident,” said Rajesh Pandey, SSP Lucknow.

“Saroj’s husband Manjesh did not want to continue his marriage with her as he was embarassed over her elopement. Similarly, Saroj’s brothers were also upset over her act. Hence they unanimously agreed to commit the crime,” the SSP explained and added, “Later, Manjesh’s uncle Rakesh was also included in the plan.”

Pandey said Saroj’s brothers Dinesh and Shivkumar along with their cousin brother Sunil conspired to kill Saroj soon after her husband Manjesh informed them that she had contacted him over phone on July 27 and wanted to return home.

He said Saroj’s brothers and cousin asked Manjesh to meet them near Balaganj where the woman had asked him to pick her up.

The SSP said the assailants first picked Saroj from Balaganj on a motorcycle and thereafter abducted Suraj after getting his whereabouts from her. He said they convinced the victims that they would get them married with social acceptabiliy after which they could live together.

Pandey said the assailants then took the duo to a secluded spot near Banshigadi village and strangulated them to death. He said they even beat up the duo badly before killing them and fled after disposing off the bodies there.

The deceased woman’s brothers and other accused had disappeared soon after the bodies were found and hence they were under suspicion since then.

Notably, Suraj and Saroj were having an affair long before Saroj was married to Manjesh. Her parents, who opposed her relationship with Suraj, had fixed her marriage with Hardoi’s resident Manjesh against her will. The couple recently met again when Saroj returned to her parent’s village two months ago and stayed there for some time and thereafter eloped on July 18.

Saroj’s husband had lodged an FIR against Suraj at Sandila police station on July 19.