Amritsar, March 30
In a shocking case of honour killing, a young girl, Prabhjot Kaur (19), and her paramour, Pardeep Singh (35), who had allegedly gone in for a court marriage against the wishes of their families, were shot dead by three assailants in broad daylight in front of Government Senior Secondary School in Patti township where Prabhjot had appeared in her plus two examination.
Residents of Patti received a shock of their lives when they saw two assailants emerging from a Maruti car and pouncing upon the two guards of the couple. The sudden attack apparently left two guards stunned. Within seconds, the assailants pumped molten lead in Prabhjot Kaur and Pardeep Singh with their .32 bore pistols and rifles. The two victims died on the spot.
Prabhjot had just come out of the examination hall of the school at around 5.15 pm and Pardeep had come to escort her to their home along with the guards. The
assailants were so swift in their action that they fled immediately after carrying out the brazen attack.
Prabhjot hailed from Moga while Pradeep belonged to Ferozepur. Both Prabhjot and Pardeep were close relatives and had gone in for a court marriage last year, ignoring the stiff opposition put up by their family members, who had even been threatening them of dire consequences in case they went ahead with their marriage. Prabhjot’s family had been opposing the relationship to the hilt, it was learnt.
Sensing a threat to their lives, the couple, it was learnt, had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had ordered the Punjab police to provide them with security.
SSP Sukhdev Singh Brar said the police was working on different theories. He, however, said the year-long enmity and strained relations between the two families could have played some role in the killing.
Prabhjot, police sources claimed, was daughter of the brother-in-law of Pardeep Singh and they had developed intimate relations, which later resulted into marriage of the two. “Since both of them had been apprehending a threat to their lives, Prabhjot had chosen Patti as a safe place for her plus two examination,” said a police official.
A case has been registered and a manhunt has been launched to arrest the accused.
