It was the lure of a better life in a foreign land that had drawn the family of Randhir Singh to the US 16 years ago.
A government medical officer, Randhir Singh, now 72, took voluntary retirement to take his family abroad. His wife, Kirpal Kaur, a government school teacher, also quit her job to fulfil the family’s dream of settling abroad. Everything was going fine as their three siblings; two sons and a daughter had established themselves in the US, till tragedy struck on Tuesday.
Randhir Singh and Kirpal Kaur were on a pilgrimage to Rishikesh when the news of the kidnapping of their two sons, a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter reached them from California. The devastated couple immediately left for their native Harsi village in Tanda block of Hoshiarpur district and the very next day took the flight to the US. Before they could land, the death of their loved ones was announced by the US authorities. The couple’s two sons Amandeep Singh, 39, Jasdeep Singh, 36, the latter’s wife Jasleen Kaur, 27, and eight-month-old daughter Aroohi had been killed by their abductor.
The tragic incident shook the family’s acquaintances and neighbours at Harsi village. Randhir Singh and Kirpal Kaur had returned to their village from abroad only on September 29 and had met them all.
Settling abroad the trend
{{/usCountry}}Settling abroad the trend
{{/usCountry}}A neighbour and close associate, Charanjit Singh, who dropped the couple at the airport, said they were in shock. He said the family had decided to migrate to the US as most of their relatives were settled there. “It’s less because of economic reasons and more due to the community’s trend in Tanda to send children abroad. Those settled abroad are seen as prosperous and respectable than those living here in the village,” he said.
He said that Amandeep and Jasdeep were students when their family shifted base.
Connected to their roots
“The family remained connected to its roots and solemnised the marriages of their three children in the village itself,” he said.
Kewal Singh, another neighbour, said both Jasdeep and Amandeep were grounded and had set up their transport business with sheer hard work.
Narinder Singh, an uncle of Jasleen, said the couple was yet to see their granddaughter. He said that Jasleen married Jasdeep in January 2019 and left for the US in October 2020. “My niece had informed us recently that they are planning to visit us in January 2023. We were eagerly waiting to see them and had planned to celebrate Aroohi’s first birthday on January 27 in a big way. We had even booked a venue in Tanda for the celebrations,” he said.