Facing social boycott, suspect reposes faith in police probe

Vishal Joshi

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, December 31

Nine months after he was released from Kurukshetra jail, where he had been lodged as a suspect for the murder of his three children, 29-year-old Sohan Lal Malik said he was a distraught man now.

Speaking to The Tribune over phone from Jind on Monday, Sohan alias Sonu, the name by which he was known to villagers, said he wanted his social boycott to be revoked. He wanted to stay with his ailing parents at Sarsa, his native village, near here.

“Though circumstances have made me a suspect, villagers see me as an accused. The media is to blame for not highlighting the truth of police investigation. Not only have I lost my three children, but also my wife Suman sees me as the murderer of the innocent children,” he said, his voice choking.

Fearing a threat to his life by agitated villagers, Sonu had taken refuge in his maternal uncle’s house at Jind’s Dumarkhan village. He said he was not averse to a CBI probe into the case, as demanded by Suman and villagers, but wished that he was not maltreated socially.

“Since December 2017, newspapers had reported proceedings of community meetings having unanimously resolved not to let me enter the village. After constant police investigation for 111 days, the police did not find anything incriminating against me and allowed me to step out of jail, but villagers remained biased,” said Sonu.

Sameer (11), Simran (8) and Samar (3) were shot dead in Morni on November 21, 2017, and their bodies were retrieved from the forest area on information provided by Sonu’s cousin Jagdeep.

Main accused Jagdeep, who allegedly committed suicide in judicial custody in Kurukshetra, and Sonu’s wife Suman had suspected Sonu’s role in the triple murder.

“I had an extramarital affair with a woman from Himachal Pradesh, but it ended in May or June 2017. I had regretted my conduct before Suman. I was shattered when she pointed the finger at me, saying I had asked Jagdeep to kill my children,” he said. Besides managing his land in Sarsa, Sonu had been running a photo studio in Kaithal, which was closed.

“I had been earning a handsome amount, but was now being forced into working at a tea stall in Dumarkhan. Instead of legal remedy, I want a community solution to the issue. I have been approaching eminent persons to convince villagers to listen to my side of the story and fairly assess the police probe conducted by an SIT,” he said.