A pregnant woman was allegedly killed by her husband and brother-in-law in Ludhiana, reported The Indian Express. On the night of 25 June, Manjeet Kaur’s husband Irwinder Singh, along with his brother Nirmal, force-fed her contraception pills. The report further adds that they pressed Manjeet’s stomach to push the foetus out of her body. Her parents claim that they killed their daughter for she was pregnant with a girl child.
A sex determination test revealed that the foetus was female. Manjeet would have given birth to another girl after her first daughter in 2013.
The police, however, said that it was unclear if the sex determination test was indeed done. Both Manjeet’s parents as well as Irwinder have accused each other of having taken her for the test.
Manjeet’s mother, Jaswant Kaur, added:
When we reached Jandi village, we found her body in a freezer along with her dead female foetus wrapped in a dupatta.
In the meantime, police arrested the two accused.
We have arrested both accused. We are investigating whether any more persons were involved. The accused have confessed to buying abortion pills. It is yet to be established if any sex determination test was conducted, though the aborted foetus was female.Jagraon Surjeet Singh, SSP Police
Manjeet and Irwinder had met in 2011 at a coaching centre for International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and gotten married the same year.
Irwinder had been unhappy with Manjeet ever since the birth of their first child. Manjeet’s father Balwinder Singh, who is a retired Army subedar, also said:
At first she was beaten for not bearing a child. When she finally conceived, things didn’t improve either... Manjeet used to visit us almost every month with a fresh complaint of domestic violence.
Bau Singh, who is the president of the co-operative society of Aasi Kalan, the village of Manjeet’s parents, said:
Once Irwinder beat up Manjeet in the village, I saved her.
In June 2016, police had also mediated a compromise between the two families.
(With inputs from The Indian Express.)
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