Evicted tenant dies by suicide in Ludhiana ; 4 booked
The victim recorded incident on phone and sent it to family; accused on the run
A 40-year-old man, who was forcibly evicted from the house he had been renting for 12 years, died by suicide on Tuesday.
The victim, Parminder Singh, swallowed pesticide tablets in a bid to end his life. He recorded the shocking incident on his phone and shared the recording with his friends and relatives. The recording has been widely shared since his death.
A day after his death, police booked the landlord Harmel Singh, his son Parvinder Singh, his wife Narinderpal Kaur and an accomplice Pardeep Singh, all residents of the Jattana village, for abetment of suicide .
The victim’s wife, Ranjit Kaur, said, “Three days ago (December 20) our landlord, Harmel, threw all our belongings out of our house. He was accompanied by a few men. Only our 16-year-old son was present when the house was forcibly vacated.”
Collaborating her story, their neighbour, Gurdeep Singh, said, “When Parminder returned home, he was visibly shocked to find his belongings, valuables, and furniture scattered across the street.”
Ranjit told the police that her husband then asked Harmel to return ₹5 lakh, which Parminder had given to the accused’s younger brother in 2018 for buying the house.
Harmel told Parminder that his brother had died a year ago and he was unaware of any transaction that might have taken place between them, Ranjit said.
Parminder then urged Harmel to either return the money or get the sale deed of the house registered in his name. However, Harmel refused to do either, she told the police, adding that Parminder was disturbed by Harmel’s refusal to honour the transaction.
On the same day, Parminder consumed the tablets in a vacant room and sent the video to his family.
Upon receiving the video, his family rushed him to the hospital where he succumbed on Tuesday.
Station house officer (SHO) Sukhwinder Singh said all four accused had been booked and a search was on to arrest them. A case was registered under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The accused have been absconding since the incident.
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