13 weeks on, Malerkotla man’s body brought from London for last rites

The parents of Gurvir Singh Cheema Guri of Shergarh Cheema village here cursed their decision to send their elder son Gurvir Singh Cheema to England in search of greener pasture.

The 23-year-old died under mysterious circumstances on August 12. His friends in England brought the body to the village today where it was consigned to flames.

Inconsolable Rattan Deep Singh Cheema and his wife Sarabjit Kaur cursed the moments when they had approved the proposal to send Guri to England in search of greener pasture after marrying him to Jashandeep Kaur of Jhalur village. The family had to shell out around Rs 30 lakh for sending the couple to England.

Guri had gone to England in December last year, around two months after his wife had reached there on study visa.

It was shortly after Guri started living with Jashandeep that the couple started quarrelling over petty issues and Jashandeep allegedly asked Guri to leave her house.

Having been deserted by his wife for whom his family had spent huge amounts, Guri started remaining upset and mentally depressed.

The Shergarh Cheema family had also lodged a complaint against Jhalur family at Sandaur police station in June this year. Jashandeep’s parents did not bother to contact their son-in-law’s family.

The family was left shell-shocked on August 12 when it received information from Guri’s friends that he was found unconscious under mysterious circumstances at his residence in London. Hours after Guri was shifted to a hospital, he was declared dead.

As Jashandeep had refused to accept her husband’s body from the hospital, his friends, led by Gurpreet Singh, coordinated with the London Police. Besides fulfilling administrative conditions for receiving and transporting the body to India, Guri’s friends raised funds for meeting heavy expenses on the lengthy procedure.

It was after an ordeal of 13 weeks that Gurpreet, also from Shergarh Cheema, brought his friend’s body here this afternoon.

“If we had known about the treatment our son would get from his wife, we would have never allowed him to go to London,” said Rattan Deep Cheema.

Residents led by social activist Mukand Singh Cheema have urged the Union Government to impress upon the authorities in England to investigate the sequence of events leading to Guri’s death and let them know the exact reason of his demise.