Punjab: 5 of family booked for abetment to suicide of 27-year-old man

The victim reportedly died by consuming a poisonous substance on Wednesday, said deputy superintendent of police Satvir Singh

Five members of a family have been booked under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (abetment to suicide) in connection with the suicide of a 27-year-old man from Theekriwal village of Barnala. The victim reportedly died by consuming a poisonous substance on Wednesday, said deputy superintendent of police Satvir Singh.

The family of the deceased has been protesting since Thursday morning demanding arrests of all of the five accused named in a suicide note. (HT File)

The family of the deceased has been protesting since Thursday morning demanding arrests of all of the five accused named in a suicide note. He added that the family had shown a suicide note to the police that had names of his girlfriend and her brothers, father and mother. According to the police, the family had recently married her off to someone else.

“We have already arrested one of the accused, the brother of the girl, and efforts are on to arrest others as well,” the DSP added.

The parents of the deceased claimed that their son and the girl had been in a relationship for the past two and a half years and wished to marry, but the girl’s family was opposed to the relationship. They claimed that the girl’s family initially separated the couple and stopped communication. The matter was supposedly resolved through a panchayat, which formally separated the two.

However, the parents alleged that even after the panchayat’s decision, the girl continued to communicate with their son. When this became known, her brother and family began to threaten their son. The parents claimed they filed a complaint with the Barnala police station, but to no avail. Following this, the girl’s family arranged her marriage elsewhere.

They said that their son was shattered knowing this and consumed poison on Wednesday. They further reported that the deceased left a suicide note blaming his girlfriend and her family for his death.

The senior superintendent of police, Sarfaraz Alam said the deceased’s family staged a protest outside the Barnala police station on Thursday. Their main demand is the immediate arrest of all five people named in the suicide note.

“We are verifying the facts and the suicide note. The investigation is going on,” he said.

The deceased’s parents have said they will neither conduct a post-mortem nor perform the last rites until all the accused are arrested.