Thaindian News

Ludhiana, July 4 (IANS) A Dalit man was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by his girlfriend’s family members in Punjab’s Ludhiana district, police said Monday.

According to police, the 21-year-old from Jattpur village was trying to elope with the minor girl, belonging to a Jat family of the same village, Saturday. However, the driver of the bus identified them. Following this, the boy was beaten up and since then he is untraceable.

“The boy’s family has complained that he was kidnapped by the girl’s family late Saturday and was murdered on Sunday,” said a police officer.

“We have conducted raids at various places. It could be a case of honour killing but it is too early to say anything. We have detained two boys for questioning,” the officer said.

However, villagers condemned the police for failing to take immediate action.

“The Dalit boy was having an affair with a girl of a leading Jat family of the village. Police did not act promptly and gave sufficient time to the accused to erase all the evidence,” said Jasvir Singh, headman of Jattpur village, around 100 km from Chandigarh.

However, Deputy Inspector General (Ludhiana range) Paramjit Singh said that “if any cop is found guilty of negligence then strict action will be taken against him”.

Many cases of honour killings have rocked different parts of Punjab in the last few months.