Haryana man, three others arrested for killing sister over inter-caste marriage

CHANDIGARH: Police in Haryana on Thursday arrested a man and three of his associates for allegedly murdering his 23-year-old sister over inter-caste marraige, and for reportedly planning to kill her husband next. The arrests were made after an encounter on the Ladhot-Bohar road in Rohtak. The victim, 23-year-old woman Sapna, was allegedly shot dead by her brother and his friends at her in-laws house at Kahni village in Rohtak on Wednesday night. Her brother-in-law, Sahil, sustained bullet injuries during the attack and is undergoing treatment at the PGIMS at Rohtak. Sapna had married Suraj, an auto driver, about three and a half years ago against their families wishes. The couple, who have a daughter, knew each other since school. The couple had initially moved away from their native Kahani village but had returned recently. On Wednesday night around 9.40 pm, Sapna's brother Sanju, accompanied by three friends, allegedly stormed into Sapnas house and opened fire.Sapna died on the spot, while Surajs brother Sahil sustained injuries. Suraj was not at home at the time of the attack. Haryana DGP, OP Singh, said that around midnight, the police received information that the accused was preparing to target Suraj next and could be intercepted on Ladot-Bohar Road. Acting swiftly on the input, a naka was established on LadotBohar Road and the accused were subsequently cornered by the police team. On being surrounded, the accused started firing. Then in self defense, the police retaliated. During the exchange of firing between police and criminals, all four accused sustained bullet injuries. They were immediately shifted to PGIMS Rohtak for treatment, he said. The accused have been identified as Sanju, Rahul -- both from Kahni village in Rohtak -- and Ankit alias Baba and Gaurav of Rukhi village in Sonepat district. Four pistols, ten live cartridges, two magazines and a motorcycle were recovered from their possession. The tragic incident took place after a period of relative calm in the agrarian state which remains bound to age-old traditions that still deny many adults the freedom to choose their partners. On June 19 last year, 20-year-old Komal, belonging to Gujjar Community was allegedly shot dead by her teenage brother in Jind who was angry over her getting married to a SC youth of Kaithal. On June 3, 2024, a 27-year-old Saravjeet Kaur of Nejadela Kalan village in Sirsa district was killed by her brother and father who were annoyed with her love affair with Karan from a nearby village. The couple was from the same caste. The parents did not agree with her love and strangled her and made a fake story of heart attack. On June 24 last year , Tejbir of Badala village and Meena of Sultanpur village was shot dead in Hansi town by two unidentified men in a suspected case of honour killing. On June 24, 2021, Vinay and his wife Kiran Dahiya of Gopalpura village in Sonipat, were shot by the girl's family as it was against their decision to marry in the same gotra. The couple had married in August 2020 and had been living in hiding in a Delhi village due to severe threat from the girl's family for a year. Even their plea before the Punjab and Haryana High Court for security could not save their life. On January 2, 2021, Neeraj was murdered allegedly by his brother-in-law and his accomplice in Panipat. He had married Komal in November 2020 who lived near his house. However, the girl's family did not agree to the alliance because the boy was from a different caste.