BARNALA: It was a sad homecoming stuffed in a wooden casket. She had left home in sharp red attire to begin a new life but came back losing her life wrapped in a white cloth.
The acid attack victim, Harpreet Kaur, was consigned to flames on Saturday late afternoon amidst surcharged atmosphere but only after the state government conceded some of the demands put forward by the aggrieved family. Earlier the family had declined to cremate the girl till the demands of strictest action against the persons responsible for the acid attack are not met.
The family members and residents carried out a protest march while taking the girl for cremation. Slogans seeking justice to the aggrieved family rented in the air as the body was taken to the cremation grounds.
Harpreet Kaur (23) was attacked at a beauty parlour in Ludhiana on December 7 where she had gone before marriage. She breathed her last at Mumbai on Friday after battling for life for 20 days.
Aggrieved father Jaswant Singh failing to come to terms said “we had to pay the heavy price for no fault of ours. The groom family made us to lose our daughter”. Harpreet’ mother Davinder Kaur said we had big dreams for the marriage of Harpreet but all these were shattered in a fraction of minute only hours before her marriage. She said the groom family never bothered to stand by us in these 20 traumatic days though my daughter kept on asking about her marriage even after she was attacked with acid.
Going by reluctance of the family in cremating the girl, Punjab finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa landed up at the residence and announced Rs. 5 lac as financial assistance to the family, a job at suwidha center to Harpreet’ brother and making way for putting the case at the fast track court. Dhindsa also assured to arrange a meeting of the family with Ludhiana policecommissioner on the demand of the family to book the members of groom family under murder charges.
Punjab women commission chairperson Parmjit Kaur Landran, who too attended the cremation also demanded strict action against the perpetrators of this heinous crime. The market near the residence of Jaswant Singh downed shutters as a mark of protest.
Justice seeking panel for exemplary punishment
Angered over the acid attack on Harpreet Kaur on her marriage day, residents had formed a panel ‘Harpreet insaf davao committee'(justice seeking committee). The committee demanding complete justice to the aggrieved family led a protest march before the girl was put to flames on Saturday. Holding placards and pictures of Harpreet the panel members marched to cremation grounds with clenched fists and anger writ large on faces. The panel wants the groom family to be put behind bars for the crime, which was undertaken by the former wife of would be groom’ brother. The committee has decided to start sustained struggle to get justice for the family and to start a fund raising campaign to help out the family.
“The action committee will start struggle for justice and will not allow the perpetrators of this heinous crime to go scot free. Our first aim is to get the groom family behind bars and then financially help out the family”, said panel members Makhan Parbhakar and former municipal councilor Dharam Singh. We will wait for the response of Ludhiana police commissioner on Sunday and if police failed to assure the family action on the groom family, the committee will not sit back and will wage the war.
“We want exemplary punishment to everyone who is involved in the crime so that acid attacks on innocent girls should come to an end. This sort of crime could only be stopped with strictest possible punishment and we will try to ensure that”, said the panel members.