Four days after court marriage, sister killed for ‘honour’ in Patiala

Four days after inter-caste court marriage, a woman (18) was killed for ‘honour” at Officers Enclave here on Sunday morning. The man accused of slitting her throat several times after smothering her with a pillow is her brother.

Four days after inter-caste court marriage, a woman (18) was killed for ‘honour” at Officers Enclave here on Sunday morning. The man accused of slitting her throat several times after smothering her with a pillow is her brother.

On Saturday, Manjeet Kaur’s secret love marriage to Beant Singh of Daru Kutia Mohalla came to light when she received the legal papers. Her mother called her son, Bhairon (30), to tell him about it, but he got angry over telephone and allegedly murdered his sister in the night.

Gurmukh Singh, a man passing by the house, rang up the police control room. “He told us a man was running out of a house with a knife dripping with blood. We reached the scene of crime and found a young woman in a pool of blood on the bed,” station house officer (SHO) concerned Jaswinder Singh Tiwana said.

The mother-daughter lived separate from the family. The accused came from Shermajra village, 10 kilometres from here. “Manjeet Kaur had inter-caste court marriage on September 1 without the consent of her family,” said SHO Tiwana. “Her mother accepted the match but her brother was against it. He killed his sister to make an example of her in his community. It is honour killing.”

A hunt for the accused is on after a murder case was registered at the Patiala Civil Lines on the complaint of eyewitness Gurmukh Singh. Manjeet Kaur’s family claimed her body after autopsy.