More than 19 years after Canadian resident Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu alias Jassi was murdered for marrying against the wishes of her family, a Sangrur court has framed charges against her mother Malkiat Kaur Sidhu (70) and maternal uncle Surjit Singh Badesha (74), who are lodged in Kapurthala jail.
“The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Smriti Dhir framed charges under sections 302 , 307 and 120-B against Malkiat Kaur and Badesha.
After they were extradited, Sangrur police had submitted a supplementary chargesheet against both of them in the Malerkotla court, and later the case was transferred to the Sangrur court,” said Ashwani Chaudhary, counsel of Sukhwinder Singh Mithu, husband of the deceased Jassi.
On January 24, a team of Sangrur police led by SP Investigations Gurmeet Singh had taken over the custody of the accused from New Delhi Police, after both were handed over them by the Canadian police. Later, both accused were lodged in the Sangrur Jail, but they requested to be shifted to the Kapurthala jail for it had “better facilities”.
“In coming days, 23 witnesses of prosecution would be produced in court. The witnesses include police officers and other residents, who had played some role in the case, “said Chaudhary.
Jassi had married Mithu secretly in March 1999 against the wishes of her family. In June 2000, contract killers had allegedly attacked the couple near Narike village under Amargarh police station of Sangrur. Jassi was killed on the spot and her body was thrown in a canal while Mithu survived with serious injuries.
Amargarh police had initially registered a case under 307 (attempt to murder) and 364 (Kidnapping) of the IPC, but after the recovery of body of Jassi, 302 IPC was added, and a FIR was registered against nine persons.
“Malkiat Kaur and Badesha were declared proclaimed offenders (POs) in 2003. The framing of charges got delayed because both kept delaying their extradition from Canada,” said Chaudhary.
On September 5, the court had dismissed the bail plea of Malkiat Kaur.
