Patiala gurdwara shooting: Kin refuse to cremate woman shot

Aman Sood

Patiala, May 15

“She was an alcoholic and we have nothing to do with her. For the past over two decades, she has not been in touch with us and we do not want to claim her body for cremation,” her family members told the police.

A divorcee, Kulwinder Kaur (43) was shot dead by a devotee inside the Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib complex after she was allegedly consuming liquor on Sunday night. The police had earlier identified her as Parminder Kaur from an identity card recovered from her purse. However, they traced her original name (Kulwinder Kaur) after an initial probe.

“Following mobile contacts and a lot of efforts, we traced her to Asmanpur village in Patiala and located her parents. However, they refused to entertain any question pertaining to Kulwinder Kaur,” said DSP (City-II) Jaswinder Tiwana. “Her father, a daily wager, is not even willing to be identified as he says he has always been ashamed of his daughter’s lifestyle,” he said.

“She has only brought us shame. She was an alcoholic and ran away some 20 years ago. She got married on her own but later her husband divorced her after he came to know about her drinking and other habits,” the mother and brother of the victim told the police. “We will only identify and sign the documents but we will not cremate her,” they said.

Earlier, Patiala SSP Varun Sharma said accused Nirmaljit Singh, a property dealer, was arrested on the spot for firing at the victim. “Prima facie, it seems Nirmal’s religious sentiments were hurt and he shot the woman. He was carrying his licensed weapon and shot her five or six times,” he said.

The police said the victim recently started working with a private security firm. “She was undergoing treatment for alcohol consumption in Patiala,” said Sharma.

On Sunday night around 9.40 pm, she was sitting near the holy sarovar inside the gurdwara complex and allegedly consuming alcohol when devotees objected and took her to the room of the manager. The woman also tried to attack the devotees, injuring one of them. The woman was later allegedly shot outside the manager’s room.

Meanwhile, a local court today sent the accused to judicial remand. A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered against the accused.

SGPC for probe

• The SGPC has asked the government to conduct a high-level probe and expose anti-Sikh forces behind such blasphemous incidents
• SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami said had the government taken exemplary action against the accused in the past, nobody would have dared to indulge in such acts