Two get life term for killing woman accused of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib

Rajneesh Lakhanpal

Ludhiana, July 13

Five years later, two youths, Jaspreet Singh, alias Nihal Singh, of Ranjit Nagar, Patiala, and Gurpreet Singh, alias Khalsa, aka Baba, resident of Amargarh, Sangrur, accused of killing a woman, Balwinder Kaur (47), of Ghawaddi village, facing accusations of desecrating Guru Granth Sahib, have been sentenced to undergo rigorous life imprisonment.

The murder took place outside Gurdwara Alamgir Sahib at Alamgir in July 2016. The duo were ordered to pay a fine of Rs 1,35,000 each. Half of the recovered amount would be paid to the victim family as compensation.

Delivering the verdict, the court held that the prosecution has successfully proved the charges levelled against the accused. The court turned down the plea of leniency raised by the convicts that they are unmarried and have old parents.

Divulging details, Additional Public Prosecutor SS Haider said one of their accomplices Harbans Singh of Nabha has been sentenced to undergo a three-year jail term under the Arms Act.

Whereas seven accused, namely Gurvinder Singh, Jagjit Singh of Sangrur, Amritpal Singh of Barnala, Swaranjit Singh, Goldy of Patiala, Kulwant Singh of Kurukshetra and Darshan Singh of Ludhiana, have been acquitted.

Balwinder Kaur was arrested for allegedly desecrating Guru Granth Sahib on October 19, 2015. After about two months she was released on bail.

A case under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act was registered at the Dehlon police station on July 26, 2016, following the statement of Ranjodh Singh, son of deceased Balwinder Kaur.

He had stated to the police that the prime accused called her mother outside the gurdwara on the pretext of helping them and shot her dead.