Rohtak 'honour' killing: 2 more arrested

The brother of the girl, who was brutally killed along with a 23-year-old youth in the district for "honour," was among two persons apprehended today, taking the total number of arrests in the case to five.

The brother of the girl, who was brutally killed along with a 23-year-old youth in the district for "honour," was among two persons apprehended today, taking the total number of arrests in the case to five.

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Sunny, the brother of 20-year-old Nidhi Barak, and Mahesh, a taxi driver, were arrested by the Haryana Police, Rohtak Range Inspector General of Police (IGP) Anil Rao said here.

Three family members of the girl were arrested yesterday and police is carrying out raids to arrest another accused, said to be Sunny's friend.

The girl's father Ravinder, mother Reeta, and uncle Narinder were arrested yesterday.

Police said the weapon used in the crime is yet to be recovered.

The girl was killed in public view, while the youth, Dharmender Barak, was beaten up, his arms and legs were broken and he was beheaded on Wednesday.

Both of them belonged to the Jat community and were residents of Gharnavati village in Kalanaur of the district.

Nidhi was pursuing a fine arts course here and Dharmender was doing ITI diploma from the district. On Tuesday, both had fled from their homes.

Nidhi's family had managed to contact her the next day and persuaded her to return home. But, later, they were found murdered.

In Haryana, as per the diktat of Khap panchayats (community councils), marriages within the same village and community are not allowed.

The "honour" crimes are common in Haryana and Punjab.

Alarmed overt this, the Supreme Court had in 2011 observed that the so-called honour killers should face the death penalty.

There are no statistics on the number of "honour" killings across Haryana and Punjab, but according to a study, hundreds of people are killed each year for falling in love or marrying against their families' wishes.