Burj Sidhwa (Muktsar), May 25
In a bizarre incident, seven members of a family were murdered in their house located in the fields near this village last night.
Police sources said Nathu Ram, a
labourer, and six members of his family were killed by a suspect who was frustrated over the refusal of Nathu Ram to get his daughter married with him.
The suspect allegedly with the help of Nathu Ram’s son-in-law Balbir Singh and others used sharp-edged weapons to kill them.
The suspect also allegedly raped the younger daughter of Nathu Ram with whom he was “trying” to get married. Balbir Singh, son-in-law of Nathu Ram, was putting pressure on him (Nathu Ram) to accept the marriage proposal of his daughter with the suspect. The incident has sent shock waves in the region.
Those killed are Nathu Ram, his wife Yamuna
Devi, two sons Raj Kumar and Koki, daughter Rekha, grandson Maninder and granddaughter
Kunti. Their bodies were found lying on a cot. The assailants had cut their faces into pieces. The bodies were sent to the Civil Hospital,
Malout, for post-mortem.
Mr Kultar Singh, SSP, along with other senior police and civil officials of the district, visited the spot. He said a three-member team comprising Mr Balkar Singh,
SP(D), Mr Joginder Singh and Mr Kanwaljit Singh (both DSPs) had been
constituted to investigate the crime.
He added that police parties had been sent to different locations to nab the culprits which included Balbir Singh. Two of the victims — Maninder and Kunti — were the children of Balbir Singh.
He said the crime came to light when a resident of Burj Sidhwa village went to the fields to answer the call of nature and sighted the seven bodies. He immediately approached the
Sarpanch, who informed the police.
The SSP pointed out that as per the initial investigations, the family members were first made unconscious by the main suspect. Then while the suspect was raping Nathu Ram’s daughter, his granddaughter Kunti regained consciousness. She was killed with a “kahi” and an axe.
After seeing it, the daughter of Nathu Ram raised the alarm, but she also met the same fate. The suspect with the help of others mercilessly killed the seven members of the family one by one.
Before the incident took place, Balbir Singh had come to the house of his father-in-law. Then Balbir Singh along with his associates, including the main suspect went to the market and came back with the bottles of liquor and ‘ladoos’. They took liquor and distributed ladoos mixed with some sedative to the family members.
The SSP said Balbir Singh was not having good relations with his wife, the elder daughter of Nathu Ram.
