Karnal, March 25
In the first-ever “honour killing” trial in Haryana, the Karnal Additional District Sessions Judge, Vani Gopal Verma, today held six persons, all relatives of the victim, guilty under Sections 302, 264,201 and 120-B in the Manoj-Babli case.

Those declared guilty are Suresh, Rajender and Baru Ram, brother, uncle and maternal uncle of the girl, Gurdev and Satish, her cousins, and Ganga Raj, a village strongman and a distant relative of the victim.

The courtroom was jampacked and a large number of villagers and mediapersons waited outside to hear the verdict. The court held Mandeep Singh, driver of the vehicle in which the slain couple was kidnapped, guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy.

The sentence will be pronounced on March 29.

The judgement came two years and nine months after the murder of the couple in June, 2007. The trial continued for 33 months and 41 witnesses deposed in the case during 50 hearings.

Hailing from Karora village in Kaithal, Manoj and Babli were both Jats and belonged to the same gotra. Hence, they were seen as “gotra brother and sister” by members of the community.

Babli was studying in a school in Karora village and Manoj ran a TV repair shop. They dared to defy the village community and eloped on April 6. Their marriage was solemnised in Sector 56 in Chandigarh on April 7.

Tension gripped the village following disappearance of the couple and fearing for their life, the couple sought protection through court. On June 15, they were kidnapped at Nilokheri as they were returning after a court appearance at Kaithal escorted by the police. An FIR regarding their kidnapping was registered at the Bhutana police station on June 20.

The incensed family members and villagers announced their social boycott on June 22 and their bodies were recovered from the Narnaund canal on June 23.

The family members of the girl threw them into the canal, their hands and legs tied. The bodies were recovered from the canal after eight days on June 23.

Mutilated beyond recognition, the bodies were cremated by the police as “unclaimed” after postmortem.The family of the boy vowed to ensure that justice was done. The police reluctant to book the culprits arrested driver Mandeep Singh only after the case was highlighted by the media.

The main accused, Ganga Raj, surrendered after non-bailable warrants were issued against him.

Manoj’s mother holds the khap panchayat responsible for the couple’s killing.

She said her family members had faced various threats and efforts were made to allure her with money. She said the accused should be awarded the death sentence so that it became a deterrent for the others.

Bhiwani, March 25
With the High Court taking a stern stand in the Samaspur Gotra row, representatives of the Faugat khap are changing statement every now and then.

At a meeting at Charkhi Dadri today, members of the khap said the panchayat had ordered the boycott of Randhir Singh and his family and no pronouncement had been made asking them to leave the village.

Describing such statements as “rumours”, they said it was the villagers’ prerogative to severe ties with anyone in the village and the law could not intervene in this.

Samaspur village made headlines when villagers opposed the marriage of Sri Bhagwan to Anita of Makdani village.

The village panchayat ordered social boycott of Randhir Singh, Sri Bhagwan’s father, and ordered him to leave.

The Faugat khap panchayat asked the couple to get divorced as they were “ gotra brother and sister”.

The meeting, which was presided over by its working president Bobby Faugat today, did not allow the media inside. Later, it said the panchayat had not issued any diktat asking Randhir Singh to leave the village or sell his land.

Later, members of the Khap executive reached Bhiwani to meet the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police in connection with the stoning of Randhir Singh’s house and the writ petition filed in the High Court.

Faridabad, March 25
Parents of students of Carmel Covent School, Ballabgarh, near here, and the school authorities allegedly clashed here today on the issue of payment of fees.

The police said complaints had been received from both sides and an FIR would be registered only after verification.

The school management had allegedly withheld the annual results of many students, whose fees had not been paid for the academic year.

The parents assembled there and questioned the school’s decision, which allegedly led to the clash. The parents alleged that a case related to the increase in the school fees was still pending in a court and the school had no legal or moral ground to withhold results of their wards.

According to the parents, the school management had illegally and “arbitrarily” raised the fees during 2008-09. Some of the parents had not made the full payment, citing the July 6, 2009, order of the Director General-cum-Commissioner, Haryana School, which prohibited the schools from unilaterally raising the fees.

The parents said almost two months ago, the school had issued notices to some parents, cautioning that their wards would be rusticated from the school due to non-payment, following which they met the deputy commissioner, Faridabad, on the issue, who assured them of looking into the matter.

However, after a few days, the school issued another notice, stating that the names of some students had been struck off from the school.

Following which the parents got an order from the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Faridabad, which stated that no school could stop entry of students or stop them from taking exams because of the non-payment of fees.

According to the parents, the school refused to take notice of the administrative order and allegedly turned them away.

Meanwhile, the Haryana School Abhibhavak Ekta Manch, which is leading an agitation since last year for raising fees by schools, alleged that the incident today was due to government’s apathy.

The government machinery was not willing to compel the schools to follow the rules. There was a wide-ranging feeling among the parents that the government was apparently encouraging the schools by not implementing written order against them, it added.

Sirsa, March 25
The district authorities are gearing up for the April 3 visit of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who is to lay foundation stones forf several projects and inaugurate others.

Abhay Singh Chautala, INLD legislator from Ellenabad, has announced that his party would observe a bandh on that day in protest against lack of amenities and the poor law and order situation.

Hooda will inaugurate a state-of-the-art library building and a shopping complex at Chaudhary Devi Lal University.

The Chief Minister will also lay the foundation stone for a 33-KV substation at Panihari, the Sirsa Trade Tower and two dharamshalas.

Abhay Singh, at a specially convened press conference at his Dabwali Road residence, alleged that the people of Sirsa district were facing acute power and water crisis.

“There is no water for cattle in villages as ponds have dried up and no efforts are being made to fill these,” he alleged.

The INLD legislator alleged that the law and order situation in Sirsa was in a shambles and criminals were thriving under the patronage of ruling party politicians.

“A former MLA of the ruling party is named as an accused in an FIR for causing injury to a villager from Bakrianwali, but the police is not taking any action.

“This former MLA’s nephew is an accused in another case. In yet another case, the kidnapping of a Dalit girl has failed to move the police,” he said.

“We warn the district authorities to work towards improving the situation by April 3 or else the INLD will organise a bandh on the day of Hooda’s visit,” the MLA added.

Responding to the ultimatum, MP Gopal Kanda accused him of trying to create hurdles in the development of Sirsa.

The minister claimed that the Chief Minister was coming to Sirsa to gift several new projects to the district and the local people should not be “misled” by the MLAs antics.

No shopkeeper would respond to the INLD’s bandh call, he claimed.

Chandigarh, March 25
Haryana will face an acute water shortage in the coming months. Due to the poor monsoon, the state’s share from Bhakra Dam, Western Yamuna Canal and Jawahar Lal Nehru Canal may be reduced because of the reduced discharge.

Earlier, Haryana used to get the water after 16 days, but now it will come after a gap of 32 days. The issue was also discussed in the Vidhan Sabha session where Public Health Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala had accepted that there was a shortage of water supply in few parts of the state.

The state had been getting 9,600 cusecs of water from Bhakra, but presently it is getting only 5,400 cusecs. The water level of Bhakra has touched a new low of 44 ft while that of Pong Dam has reached 40 ft. In the coming days, some districts of south Haryana, including Rewari, Mahendragarh, Narnaul, Bhiwani, Dadri, Jhajjar, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Mewat, Hisar may face an acute water shortage.

Chandigarh, March 25
Accused of being a surrogate mother and renting out her womb, Bharti Sahdev has got a reason to cheer.

Kurukshetra, March 25
The present world is becoming highly competitive and the youth has to face tough competition in every sphere of life. Therefore, they should always be ready and be capable and competent to face it. This was stated by Rajya Sabha MP Dr Ram Prakash while addressing the annual convocation and prize distribution function of Markanda National College, Shahabad, Markanda, 25 km from here, yesterday.

The youth should be vigilant to save and preserve the culture and tradition from the western influence, he said.

He announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh to the college for its development from his Member Parliament Local Area Development Fund.

Besides giving degrees to 277 pass outs, comprising 261 graduates and 16 postgraduates, he gave away prizes to toppers in the annual examinations, winners of cultural activities and sportspersons.

Vinay Pathak received best student’s award, Devi Lal, best NSS volunteer (boy), Pooja Rani, best NSS volunteer (girl), Jonny Saini, best NCC Cadet, Navjot Singh, best actor, Arundeep, best student (social service), Gopal Tanwar, best athlete (boy) and Pooja, best athlete (girl) awards, respectively.

College principal Dr Vinay Kumar Malhotra read out the annual report and highlighted the achievements of the college in various fields.

Sirsa, March 25
Kiran Khyalia, wife of Sirsa DC Yudhbir Singh Khyalia, has made an audio compact disc (CD) of Haryanvi songs sung at the time of various ceremonies during marriages.

Kiran, a lecturer in music in Government National College, Sirsa, teamed up with her elder sister Sunita Chaudhary, a school lecturer, to make the CD containing 90 songs that are sung by Haryanvi womenfolk during marriages.

Khyalia has done UGC sponsored postdoctoral work on Haryanvi folk songs, while Sunita Chaudhary, who teamed up with her in duets, has been singing for the All-India Radio for several years.

Asha Hooda, wife of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and deputy chairperson of the Child Welfare Council, Haryana, will release the CD in Hisar on March 27.

“We have encompassed songs sung at the marriage of “Banarha” (bridegroom) as well as those rendered at the time of marriage of “Banarhi” (bride) in our CD,” said Khyalia.

“In Haryana, there are separate set of songs for various ceremonies performed at the marriage of brides and bridegrooms,” she added.

She said songs for 10 different ceremonies performed during the marriages had been included in the CD, which include “Mangal Geet” (songs to wish good future), “Lagan Geet”, “Baan ke Geet”, “Mehndi ke Geet”, “Bhaat ke Geet”, “Dhukaav ke Geet”, “Phere ke Geet” and “Bidai ke Geet” for the brides and “Ghurchari he Geet”, “Barat ke Geet” and “Bahu Utarane ke Geet” for bridegrooms. The music for the songs has been given by Murari Verma.

Kaithal, March 25
The police has arrested two persons from Punjab for allegedly kidnapping a youth. SSP Sandeep Khirwar said here today that on March 24, Gurdip, Manpreet and Jagdip were returning after attending a jagran. They noticed a canter and signalled it to stop, but when it did not stop they hurled a stone at it and forced it to stop. Following which, the driver and the conductor of the canter forced Gurdip inside the vehicle and took him to Patiala.

The police recovered the kidnapped youth from Patiala and arrested driver Jatinder alias Sonu, and Rattan Lal.

In another case, the CIA branch of the district police has arrested two accused and recovered one stolen car and three motorcycles from them.

The SSP said the CIA police, led by SI Kashmir Singh, at a naka near Pai, stopped a car and questioned occupants, who disclosed their identity as Surinder Singh Kairon of Deoban village, presently living in Kaithal and Balwan alias Billa of Pai. On inquiry, it became known that the said car was stolen from a Kurukshetra hospital on February 17. Both were sent to the judicial custody. The police has recovered the stolen motorcycles from Surinder.