Family refuses to conduct last rites of murder victim, allege police inaction

Relatives of a young man who was murdered four days ago in a rural town near Abohar, a subdivision of Fazilka district, are protesting alleged police inaction in apprehending the accused. The grieving family has refused to perform the last rites until all those responsible are brought to justice.

The protest, a sit-in demonstration outside the government hospital mortuary, has continued for days as the family demands immediate arrests.

The family has vowed not to claim the body of the victim, Bharat Ratan (28) of Situ Guno, a rural town located 15km away from Abohar under Balluana assembly constituency, until every culprit is apprehended.

“We will not take the body until the people who snatched a father away from his seven-year-old daughter are behind bars,” said Raman Kumar, the victim’s brother-in-law.

Raman also expressed a lack of faith in the local police, urging higher authorities to ensure a fair and impartial investigation, free from any kind of external pressure or influence.

“A case was registered against a mother-son duo, two others, and five to six unidentified individuals under charges of murder and related sections,” said Fazilka’s Senior Superintendent of Police, Varinder Brar while ruling out any sort of pressure.

He added that the murder appears to have stemmed from an old enmity between the two parties, and that efforts to trace the absconding accused are ongoing.