4 days on, kin refuse to cremate farmer's body in Lehal

The body of farmer Harbans Singh, 48, of Lehal village, has been kept in a freezer at his home for the past four days. Harbans Singh had ended his life around four days back by consuming a poisonous substance on July 29.

The body of farmer Harbans Singh, 48, of Lehal village, has been kept in a freezer at his home for the past four days. Harbans Singh had ended his life around four days back by consuming a poisonous substance on July 29.

A case of abetment to suicide has been registered against four persons. The family has been reluctant to cremate the body in case the accused are not arrested.

The family had staged a protest outside Malaud police station on July 30 for at least two hours, laying the body on the road. The police had promised them that all the accused would be behind bars within two days, but they failed to keep their word.

Amandeep Singh, nephew of the deceased, said the police had been working under political pressure and they might not even put in any effort to arrest the accused. So, they brought a freezer and kept the body in it.

"We will not cremate the body till the police make the arrests. Instead of arresting the accused, the police have been pressurising us to cremate the body," said Amandeep.

Harbans Singh had ended his life by consuming a poisonous substance on July 29. He was rushed to Civil Hospital, Malaud, where he was declared brought dead. The Malaud police had registered a case of abetment to suicide against four persons including commission agent Parminder Singh of Chapran village, Tarsem Singh of Kuhli Khurd village and Rajinder Singh and Parminder Singh of Lehal village.

In his complaint, Harbhajan Singh, elder brother of the deceased, alleged that Parminder Singh had grabbed his land and had sold it to Rajinder Singh and Kuldeep Singh.

Tarsem Singh, accomplice of Parminder Singh, had also sent a notice of recovery of Rs 6 lakh to Harbans Singh.

Reeling under depression, he ended his life. The deceased had written a suicide note in which he had stated that the accused drove him to take the extreme step.