Mass suicides : 8-yr RI for ex-DIG, four others

Amritsar, February 19

Additional District and Sessions Judge Sandeep Singh Bajwa today sentenced former DIG Kultar Singh and four others to eight years’ rigorous imprisonment in a case regarding suicide by five members of a family in 2004.

DSP Hardev Singh, now posted in Tarn Taran, was sentenced to four years’ rigorous imprisonment. He was investigating officer and Station House Officer then. Others awarded eight years’ RI are Sabreen Kaur, her father-in-law Mohinder Singh, deceased Hardeep Singh’s sister Parminder Kaur and her husband Palwinderpal Singh. They were fined Rs 23,000 each.

They will have to serve another year in jail in case of default on payment. The Punjab Human Rights Commission, an NGO, said they would approach the higher courts to seek exemplary punishment.

Hardeep Singh, his wife Romy, their children and Hardeep’s mother Jaswant Kaur committed suicide in 2004. Before taking the extreme step, Hardeep Singh wrote on a wall of the house, describing the family’s plight and accusing his relatives and then SSP Kultar Singh of extortion and criminal intimidation. — TNS