Abandoned bridegrooms of punjab

NRI brides dump and dupe their Punjabi grooms
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 31
Surjit Singh (name changed) was on cloud nine when he received a marriage proposal from an Indian-Canadian girl in 2009. Like lakhs of Punjabi youths, the Raikot resident, too, aspired to go abroad. When the girl’s family asked for Rs 25 lakh for taking him abroad, Surjit readily agreed.

In 2011, he paid Rs 10 lakh more to his in-laws for processing VISA papers. Five years after his wedding, Surjit is still in India. His NRI wife never took him along. Worse, Surjit hasn’t heard from her in the last three years.

Dumped and duped, Surjit’s woes haven’t ended even after making umpteen rounds of police stations. He can’t remarry as ex-parte divorce is not acceptable in India. He has no source of income as he had sold his land to arrange money for going abroad.

While tales of NRI youths dumping their brides are familiar in Punjab, Surjit’s case adds a fresh twist to this sordid saga. In a role reversal, a significant number of girls, mostly NRIs, are “abandoning their husbands” after taking money from the groom’s family. The NRI wing of the Punjab Police, with its headquarters at Mohali, and other police stations across the state have received 40 such complaints this year.

IG Gurpreet Deo, who heads the NRI wing, said in most cases the girls

were from Canada, United States and England. The data reveals most duped youths were from the Moga-Jagraon belt with some cases being reported from Bathinda and Jalandhar too.

“Most complaints of abandoned husbands relate to contract marriages (where money is given as a fee for going abroad). The police is contacted when all communication between the two sides ends. In the case of Surjit, the man waited for several years before approaching the police,” she said.

Deo said the actual number of ‘abandoned husbands’ would be much more. “We have noticed that men feel more social embarrassment after being abandoned and are hesitant to approach us,” she said.

While in the case of abandoned brides, the groom’s family usually accuses the girl of not being of good character and bringing insufficient dowry, the women have abandoned men on grounds of impotency and incompatibility.

There have been also cases where Indian girls have abandoned their NRI husbands after marriage. An NRI from Canada Amrik Singh (name changed) has filed a complaint a Jalandhar girl, who along with her brother and parents, has been declared a proclaimed offender.

The police investigation reveals the girl wanted to migrate abroad. Her parents had migrated, but the girl’s papers were rejected. She married Amrik and after getting the Canadian Permanent Resident Certificate, she went to meet her parents and never returned.

Later, when a case was registered, she accused Amrik of impotency even though they had lived together for a year. Medical examination revealed that the youth had no such problem. Later, the girl accused her husband and in-laws of harassing her for dowry.

Deo said the legal recourse for abandoned grooms is the same that is available for dumped brides, “After a case of cheating is established and an FIR is lodged, the accused are declared proclaimed offenders. If they don’t join investigation, their properties are attached,” said Deo.

Role reversal

Stories of NRI youths dumping their brides are not unusual in Punjab. The state, however, is experiencing a role reversal.
A significant number of girls, mostly NRIs, are “abandonding their husbands” after taking money from the groom’s family.
The NRI wing of the Punjab Police and other police stations across the state have received 40 such complaints this year.

4 apologies couldn’t change Santosh, even life sentence won’t’

photo by anand sharma

Priyadarshini Case
‘4 apologies couldn’t change Santosh, even life sentence won’t’
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 7
“I apologise to Priyadarshini and would not harass her again.” This undertaking was given not once but four times by Santosh Singh to the Delhi police when Priyadarshini Mattoo lodged four FIRs against him in different police stations for stalking and harassing her.She and her family accepted the apology hoping the man would be reformed.

Santosh did not keep his word and went on to brutally rape and kill Priyadarshani. And though the Supreme Court stated it was commuting the sentence as there was a chance he could be reformed, the aggrieved family does not see any hope.

“He apologised before me and in front of cops in a police station. But once out of the police net, he was again back to his harassing ways,” said Rajeshwari Mattoo, mother of Priyadarshini. ”My daughter had kept a copy of his signed apology. After her murder, the CBI took the papers and those were part of the case files,” added Rajeshwari.

The aged mother said if there was any chance of reformation,” my daughter would have been alive today”.

She recalled that once she was going in Delhi in a car with Priyadarshini when at the traffic lights, Santosh came and lay on the bonnet. “We were shocked and trembled with fear. This happened when he had already apologised in a police station few days ago. We were yet to react when he came near Priyadarshini, took the keys of the car and left us there. It happened in full public view and traffic cops were witness to it,” said Rajeshwari.

“When we lodged a complaint with the police, he gave another undertaking that he won’t harass Priya. We pardoned him as Priyadarshini didn’t want her precious time to be wasted in courts and hoped he would be reformed”,she said.

“Now, the Supreme Court is hoping he would be reformed. Going by what we have suffered, we have no hopes. But we are talking as victimised parents and not legal experts in the matter. The court may have reasons, but he won’t be reformed,” she said.

Priyadarshani Mattoo case : A mother broke her silence after 14 years

M A I N N E W S

He deserves death, says Priya’s mother
Jupinderjit Singh/TNS

Jammu, October 6
“Today, I am feeling as shattered as I had felt on the day my daughter was raped and killed in Delhi 14 years ago,” were the first words of Rajeshwari Mattoo over the death sentence to the murderer of her daughter Priyadarshini being commuted into life term by the Supreme Court.

Also, it was for the first time that Rajeshwari, a retired Jammu college principal, spoke her heart out before the media after the murder in January 1996.

Notably, Priyadarshini Mattoo, a 23-year-old law student at a Delhi college, was raped and murdered by Santosh Kumar Singh, the son of an IPS officer. He had been sentenced to death by the Delhi High Court, a punishment commuted to life term today by the apex court.

Rajeshwari said, “I have high regard for the Supreme Court, but I don’t understand the reasons behind the verdict. After fighting all these years, I feel the law like an ‘eye for an eye’ is the proper punishment for such criminals… I have died every day since her murder.”

Recalling the “oft-spoken” words of Priyadarshini, her mother says, “When she joined the law college, her aim was to be an IAS officer. She used to tell me that in this country only politicians, cops and bureaucrats can have their say and live without fear. Her words proved true as the spoilt brat of a police officer first made her life miserable and eventually killed her.”

Though Priyadarshini’s father Prof CL Mattoo has been speaking largely on the issue, Rajeshwari resiled into silence. “I was depressed. I recovered after the high court ordered death penalty for that monster. I thought there was hope in this country, but today I have lost it again. He has already managed many times to come out of Tihar Jail. He would be a free bird soon… The high court had said it was a rare of rare cases. Santosh had been stalking her for several months before the murder. The crime was pre-mediated. His father supported and encouraged him.”

Notably, the Mattoo family was one of the lakhs of Kashmiri Pandit families forced to migrate from Srinagar in the early 1990s after terrorism spread its roots in the state. The family was just recovering from the trauma of relocation that the news of Priyadarshini’s death came. “At times we feel our sufferings in the Valley would have been far less,” she said.

Rajeshwari said she was even the more shocked that there was no remorse on the part of Santosh or his family. “No one ever apologised to us. When Santosh was stalking my daughter, I spoke to his mother over the phone but she expressed helplessness, saying her son was spoilt.”

Prof Mattoo said, “As a father, I wish he was hanged there and then when he was caught for the murder of my daughter. But as a citizen, I can only seek review of the SC verdict.”

now, this is a crime mystery that would take a lot to unravel...

Woman, daughter set ablaze, die
Police suspects honour killing
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Gigrayal (Khour block), September 19
The Jammu police is trying to unravel the mystery behind the shocking incident of setting on fire of three females of this border village. While two of them died in the hospital, the third, a teenager, is stated be critical.

Krishna Devi (55), her daughter, Rajni (20), and a neighbour’s daughter, Kajal (13), were set on fire on the midnight of September 1 by some unidentified persons when the three were sleeping in the open verandah of Krishna’s house.

Krishna and Rajni suffered nearly 50 per cent burns and died in Government Hospital, Jammu, yesterday. Kajal is still undergoing treatment with 25 per cent burns, but her condition is critical.

The miscreants first sprinkled petrol on them but none of the victims could wake up in time to prevent the gory attack. Surprisingly, two sons of Krishna Devi, 24-year-old Gurdial and 17-year-old Tilak Raj, who were sleeping on two different cots nearby were not attacked and did not wake up till the women were engulfed in flames.

The boys claimed they did not see any one running away. The police noticed that the boys’ hands were not burnt as usually happens when some one tries to douse a fire.

With theories like robbery, personal enmity and land dispute not providing any successful leads in the 18 days of investigation, the cops believe it could be a case of honour killing or the handiwork of some mad men who committed the crime withut any motive. The sustained questioning of boys has not provided any clue so far about whether their sister had an affair or there was some dispute in the family.

“There is absolutely no clue so far. We are zeroing in on the possibility of honour killing as the main motive. A young girl is targeted because of illicit relations or inter-caste love affair,” said SHO, Khour police station, Rakesh Akram.

Gurdial, the elder son of the deceased, said the police was trying to implicate them in the case. “I and my brother woke up hearing the cries of my mother and others. We poured water on them and later made them sit under the hand pump. By that time the entire village had reached,” said Gurdial

The family is poor.It lives in a small plot having two thatched huts, one used as living room and another as the kitchen.

“We are poor landless labourers dependent on daily wages,” added Gurdial.

Villagers acknowledge it was the most shocking as well as weird incident. They said there was some unpleasant talk about the young girl but nothing was there to confirm it. Some of the villagers, wishing not to be named, said the girl’s younger brother had recently gone on a Sadbhawna trip sponsored by the Army. The police insists the brothers are the prime suspects. “We would call them for questioning soon. This is not the opportune time due to the death of their sister and mother, ” said the police.

(published in The Tribune, Jammu Edition , sept 20, 2010

indian army needs to come clean on this

‘Capt Kohli died as he tried to blow lid off fake encounter’
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 17
No job, no compensation, not even an apology, forget justice. This is the fate of families of four labourers, who were allegedly killed in a “fake encounter” in Lolab in Kupwara in 2004. Their case is directly linked to the mysterious death of Capt Sumit Kohli of Chandigarh as the latter was the duty officer at the time of the encounter. These families live in poverty, with no politician coming forward to apply balm on their wounds.

“We spurned the offer of Rs 5 lakh to keep our mouths shut. Had we taken the money, our children would not have been forced to leave school to earn a livelihood,” rues 1971 Indo-Pak war veteran, Madan Lal, father of Bhushan Lal, one of the four dead labourers.

On April 12, 2004, Bhushan Lal along with Ram Lal, Satpal and Ashok Kumar were hired by an Army officer and taken to Kupwara with a promise of giving them a job.

The joy of getting good employment was short-lived. Few days later, the labourers were allegedly killed in a fake encounter. Captain Sumit Kohli of 18 Rashtriya Rifles in Lolab in north Kashmir was the duty officer at that time. The families say they came to know about the encounter through an anonymous letter, which they received one-a-half years after the incident. The letter gave details of the alleged fake encounter and names of 11 Army men.

The families protested and staged dharnas following which a Court of Inquiry was ordered. The Army maintained that the bodies were not of the labourers. It said two Kashmiri families had claimed two bodies and got the compensation too.

Few weeks after getting the letter, the family came to know about Capt Kohli’s death under mysterious circumstances with the Army claiming that he committed suicide.

Madan Lal says he was shocked to see the picture of Capt Kohli in newspapers. He said Capt Kohli had told them after the CoI that “the man who wrote a letter to you exposing the killing of four labourers will ensure that you get justice.”

Even as the Defence Minister AK Antony last week announced a fresh probe into Capt Kohli’s death, the aggrieved family members don’t see any ray of hope.

“We have been through such inquiries by the Army. They will never expose their men. We want a CBI inquiry,” claimed Madan Lal. “Capt Kohli died because he tried to blow the lid off the fake counter. But apart from him, we didn’t get support from any corner,” said a bitter Bali Ram.



Army’s take

“It was an actual operation, which has been dubbed as a fake encounter by some anonymous letters. Still, Army authorities carried out a high-level inquiry that revealed that there was no truth in the allegations made by the letters.”

Col Rahul Pandey, CO of the 18 RR at the time of the encounter, and an accused named in the letters.

Govt’s view

“I am trying my best to get compensation for the families. However, it is a sensitive matter concerning the Army and not much can be done till the fake encounter is proved. I have already asked the Army to give me details of what happened to the labourers. I am awaiting a reply.”

Raman Bhalla, Minister for Relief, Revenue and Rehabilitation

published in The Tribune, sept 18, 2010

they hide drugs in vegetables, fruits

M A I N N E W S

Drugs enter jail with vegetables
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 12
If you think vegetables, roots and fruits are only for eating, think again! Ingenious inmates in jails across the state are increasingly using these natural products to smuggle drugs or money into the secured four walls of the prisons.

In Ludhiana Central Jail alone, inmates have been caught using onions, jimikand, cauliflower, bamboo shoots, melons and capsicum, among others, as means to hide drugs, both in tablet or powder form, besides money inside the jail.

With such usage, the age-old battle of wits between the inmates and the jail officials to outsmart each other for smuggling or checking the booty is becoming more and more inventive.

Especially when the inmates keep on devising new methods after one or the other is caught by the officials. Apart from vegetables, inmates have also improvised ghee tins, slings of bags, stitching of towels and drawstrings of underwears to sneak in drugs and money.

Inquiries by The Tribune have revealed that one of the most popular methods of smuggling opium in the jail is by stacking it in a polythene and hiding in the anus is still continuing despite many having been already caught in the act.

Jail officials, wishing anonymity, revealed such instances had come up in Ludhiana, Amritsar and Patiala Central Jails.

But what has astonished the officials is the use of vegetables. A few days ago, a man was caught using cauliflowers for smuggling drugs. He had returned from parole and brought cauliflowers with him.

He had scooped the flower out, cut its base, stacked drugs in it and fixed the flower over it with a glue. Unfortunately for him, an official found the flower unusually hard fixed.

Just yesterday, jail officials were shocked to their bones, to recover eight small paper packets of charas, hidden inside eight onions. The onions were given to two murder accused inmates, Purshotam and Somay, by one visitor Swaran Singh.

During the checking of the barracks, a jail official found the drugs when he casually shook one of the onions. He found the inner part was scooped out and the upper refixed. Another inmate smuggled in hollow capsicums filled with drugs.

"We have been recovering tablets, drugs and money from pickles, desi ghee, refined oil, panjiri, curd, milk but the use of vegetables and fruits is a stunner," said deputy superintendent of Central Jail S. P. Khanna. The biggest haul was when a Payal resident Jagtar Singh improvised two 15-kg tins to smuggle 10,000 intoxicating tablets into the jail for his drug addict son, Gagandeep Singh. Both are in jail now.

"Drugs like charas, poppy husk, opium, smack apart from intoxicating tablets, especially Lomotil popularly known as 10 number tablets, are the most favourite," said Khanna.

Another inmate, Ramanand, who has a dubious record of escaping five times from the custody of the police or jail officials, attempted to bring money stacked in bamboo shoots which were hidden in the sling of a bag he was carrying.

While smuggling of drugs is easily understood as the need for the addicts incarcerated in the jail, the sneaking in of money raises many questions. Primarly, the money is used to bribe the jail officials for getting drugs, or extra benefits. Officials deny this but the very fact that the inmates are taking such risk to smuggle money suggests there are some ready palms waiting to be greased.