Jalandhar: Five people of the same family were burnt alive in the Mehatpur area here on Tuesday after a group of men led by the son-in-law of the family set their house on fire. The deceased included 28-year-old Paramjit Kaur (wife of the accused), her parents, and two children. According to police officials probing the case, the accused Kuldeep Singh was Paramjit's second husband and had been harassing her, asking her to leave her children from her first marriage.
Paramjit and her two minor children had been living with her parents for five to six months. Kuldeep Singh wanted Paramjit to return to his house in Ludhiana’s Khurshedpur village but she refused to go back as Kuldeep used to allegedly beat her and the kids up, the police said.
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After tolerating the ordeals and consequent quarrels for a few months, the woman came back to her native village to live with her parents. The accused reached out to her, forcing her to leave the children there and go back to living with him. When she refused again, he reached Paramjit's residence late on Tuesday night with a few of his companions. The men locked the house from the outside, poured petrol over the house, and set it ablaze. The culprits then fled the spot.
By the time the villagers informed the police about the incident and reached the spot with a rescue team, all five inside the house had died. The deceased were identified as Paramjit Kaur, her father Surjan Singh, mother Jogindro Devi, and two children Gulmohar and Arshdeep. "We have lodged a complaint in the case and an investigation is underway. The police are currently looking for the accused and his accomplices who are absconding," said Jalandhar rural SP Sarabjit Singh Bahiya.
