JASSI-MITHU CASE: SANGRUR COURT FRAMES CHARGES AGAINST MOTHER, UNCLE
DEFENCE COUNSEL OPPOSED CHARGES CLAIMING THE TWO WERE NOT INVOLVED IN EXECUTION OF CRIME
SANGRUR : A Sangrur court on Monday framed charges in the case involving the murder of Jaswinder Sidhu alias Jassi against her mother Malkiat Kaur Sidhu, 70, and uncle Surjit Singh Badesha, 74.
Jassi, 25, was murdered in June 2000 for allegedly marrying against the wishes of her family.
The court of additional district and sessions judge Smriti Dhir framed the charges under Sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Sidhu and Badesha even as their counsel opposed the same.
Police brought the accused to the court from the Kapurthala jail. “Now, the case will be run on the evidences produced by the prosecution,” Raj Kumar Goyal, counsel for Jassi’s husband Sukhwinder Singh, alias Mithu said. Sidhu’s counsel Simrandeep Sandhu opposed the charges claiming the two were not involved in the execution of crime. Jassi, a Canadian resident, had married Mithu, in 1999, months before she was found with her throat slit. Her husband, Mithu, a Jagraon resident, was also attacked but he survived.
The police had booked 12 persons of whom seven were convicted by court. Malkiat Kaur and Badesha were declared proclaimed offenders (POs) in 2003. In January, Canada extradited the two to face trial in India.
On September 5, the court dismissed the bail plea of Malkiat Kaur. She moved sought bail on the ground that they were in jail for six years before being extradited from Canada.
The conspiracy charge was also not proved either, her counsel had argued.