A day after a newly married couple was allegedly shot dead by two youths in Haryana’s Hisar in a suspected honor killing case, the state police arrested the woman’s brother and cousin on Tuesday.
The accused, Sachin (21), Meena’s brother, and Rahul (21), her cousin (maternal uncle’s son), had called Meena (22) and her husband Tejbir (24) to a park in Hansi on Monday for a discussion and then shot them dead, according to police. Sachin, who has completed his Class XII education and is enrolled in a computer course, and Rahul, a school dropout with a history of legal issues, were apprehended. Rahul has two FIRs against him: one for a firing incident and another for alleged possession of a weapon.
Tejbir and Meena, who were distant relatives, were married for two months against their families’ wishes before being killed on Monday.
Additional Director General of Police (Hisar Range) Matta Ravi Kiran stated, “This is a case of honour killing. The arrested accused persons have given their statements to the police that they were against the marriage.” The couple had initially taken police protection on May 1 but returned it just three days later. The postmortem revealed that Tejbir had been shot five times and Meena twice.
Hansi SP Maqsood Ahmed explained, “A few days ago, Sachin started talking to his sister on the phone and tried to convince her to break the marriage and return home. On Monday, during their meeting at Hansi Park, when she refused to end the marriage, the accused shot the couple dead. We will also verify the role of the other accused in the matter.”
The couple had married at an Arya Samaj Mandir in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, on April 22, despite their families’ objections. Several attempts to resolve the matter between relatives were unsuccessful.
Based on a complaint from Tejbir’s father, police registered an FIR against 11 people – all members or relatives of Meena’s family – under sections 302 (murder), 120-B (conspiracy), 147 (rioting), and 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC, as well as relevant sections of the Arms Act.