Daughter found dead, Punjab couple held

The parents of a 25-year-old woman who was found dead near Baghora in Hoshiarpur Thursday have been arrested on the suspicion of honour killing. Manpreet Kaur was earlier believed to have died in an accident.

Her parents had told police she left home Wednesday evening for the engagement of a friend's sister in Mahilpur, and was carrying Rs 3,000 in cash, a gold ring and a chain. They claimed the money and jewellery were missing and robbery could have been the motive behind her murder.

However, the police had doubts after they checked call details and found that Manpreet had been home till 7 pm Wednesday. "She wanted to marry Sandip Kumar of Motian village but since he was from a Scheduled Caste, her parents did not agree," SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill said.

On December 5, Manpreet allegedly insisted on going to Kumar. The police said her father Kapur Singh, a teacher, and mother Balwinder Kaur, an auxiliary nurse midwife, then called up an acquaintance, Satnam Singh, who came with his driver Gurinder Singh. When Manpreet did not listen to them, "Satnam hit her on the head with a sharp-edged weapon, killing her on the spot," Gill said.

Satnam then carried Manpreet's body to the fields in Kapur Singh's car, changed his blood-soaked clothes and dumped her body near the Baghora road, the police said.

Gurinder allegedly drove Manpreet's car to the site later and left it there to create the impression of an accident.

The SSP said the police have also arrested Jaswinder Pal Singh of Meetpur, an acquaintance of the family, who allegedly took Rs 1.50 lakh promising to ensure it was treated as an accident case.

All the accused have been arrested except driver.

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