Labourer bludgeons wife to death in Ludhiana’s Koomkalan, arrested

Cops say 25-year-old drunkard suspected the victim of infidelity

A labourer allegedly bludgeoned his wife to death with a wooden cot leg at Gahi Bhaini village here on Sunday morning.

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The Koomkalan police have arrested the accused, identified as Sukhbir Singh, 25, and a murder case has been registered against him.

Sukhbir was married to the victim, Kamaljit Kaur, 22, three years ago and had a one-year-old son.

Kaur’s brother Beant Singh of Bhagpur village of Machhiwara said Sukhbir was a drunkard and used to thrash her in an inebriated condition. They had intervened and also warned Sukhbir, but in vain, he said.

“On Sunday, Kamaljit telephoned me saying Sukhbir was thrashing her. My mother Balwinder Kaur and I rushed to her home to find their neighbours and other villagers had already gathered there,” he said, adding that Sukhbir’s brother Jagtar Singh told them that his brother had murdered Kamaljit. “When I confronted Sukhbir, he also tried to assault me, following which I informed the police,” said Beant.

Koomkalan station house officer (SHO) sub-inspector Paramjit Singh said, “The accused used to suspect his wife of infidelity. On Sunday morning, he had a spat with her and bludgeoned her to death with a wooden cot leg in an inebriated condition.”

It is the second murder in Ludhiana ever since a lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak came into force. On March 23, a courier company employee had bludgeoned his colleague to death with a bamboo stick and iron rod during curfew at the company’s Gill Road office. The accused and the victim had consumed liquor together before the incident.