Self-immolation bid: Punjab police in civvies at GMSH-16 to monitor victim

Two days after a jobless Gurdaspur woman, Gurpreet Kaur (38), attempted self-immolation, 50 metre from Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badals’ residence, a number of Punjab police personnel, including two woman constable --- all in civvies --- are being seen at the Government Multispecialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, where the woman is undergoing treatment.

Two days after a jobless Gurdaspur woman, Gurpreet Kaur (38), attempted self-immolation, 50 metre from Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badals’ residence, a number of Punjab police personnel, including two woman constable --- all in civvies --- are being seen at the Government Multispecialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, where the woman is undergoing treatment.

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These cops were spotted in the emergency block and near the room of the woman in the hospital, but no official is willing to own their presence.

A senior Punjab police official, on the condition of anonymity, hinted that as the incident had taken place in the jurisdiction of Chandigarh police, it was their job to provide security, but they had deployed personnel for a reason, he refused to share.

Some cops on duty told this reporter that the woman’s conduct was also under the lens as she had poured petrol on her legs and tried to set herself ablaze, which raised doubts on the possible reasons for self-immolation.

“No relative has come to see her, since she has been hospitalised, She had claimed that her maternal uncle’s family stayed in Gurdaspur,” one of them claimed.

Meanwhile, the UT police are yet to record the statement of the victim, who had poured petrol below her legs (something the police claim is a rarity in self-immolation bids). Harjit Kaur, Sector-3 SHO, said the victim did not want to give her statement so the police had not recorded it.

DSP (crime) Jagbir Singh said that no case had been registered as no vital body part of the victim had been burnt.