Relu Ram murder convict attempts suicide in jail

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, October 25

Convict Sonia, undergoing a jail term for killing her father and former MLA Relu Ram Punia and seven other family members, allegedly attempted suicide at the Kurukshetra district jail on Tuesday.

Jail superintendent Sanjay Singh said after the incident was reported on Tuesday, Sonia was shifted to a prison in Karnal. Singh said there were several complaints against Sonia by inmates and the jail staff.

Undergoing life imprisonment, she had been transferred for administrative reasons, he said. She tried to hang herself from a ceiling fan using her sari, he said.

Timely intervention by other inmates and the jail authorities saved her, he said. Sonia was in good health and a complaint regarding suicide attempt was lodged at the Sector 7 police post, he said.

Sonia’s husband Sanjeev Kumar was also convicted of murdering eight family members. He was released on 14-day parole from the Kurukshetra jail in May, but did not report back after expiry of his parole.

Sonia and her husband had clubbed to death Relu Ram Punia (50), his wife Krishna Devi (41), daughter Priyanka (14), son Sunil Kumar (23), daughter-in-law Shakuntala Devi (20), grandson Lokesh (4) and granddaughters Shivani (2) and two-month-old Preeti at their farmhouse in Litani village of Hisar district on the night of August 23, 2001, while they were asleep.

The deaths came to notice around 8 am the next day when a school van came to pick up Lokesh. The manager of the farmhouse sent a servant upstairs to bring Lokesh. The servant found them dead.

Sonia was found gasping in a bedroom. She had consumed some insecticide after killing members of the family. Later, the manager and servants told the police that Sonia had brought her sister Priyanka from her hostel to celebrate her birthday.

The celebrations went on till midnight when servants heard the bursting of crackers. Thereafter, Sonia came to the garage and took away an iron rod.

The bodies of the family members were found lying in separate rooms on the first and second floors of the farmhouse. All of them had been clubbed to death. There was no sign of resistance.

There was a property dispute between Sonia and her brother Sunil, Punia’s son from his first wife. While Sonia wanted her father to give her 46 acres around the farmhouse, Sunil had objected to it, saying he had been cultivating crops on the land.

The family owned property in various nearby villages, besides Delhi, Gurugram and Faridabad. In May 2004, Sonia and Sanjeev were sentenced to death for their role in the crime. Their sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

Relu Ram Punia, a multi-millionaire, was elected legislator from the Barwala Assembly segment in Hisar district as an Independent candidate in 1996.

Eight murders in one night

• Sonia and her husband Sanjeev Kumar clubbed to death eight members of her family at their farmhouse in Litani village of Hisar district on the night of August 23, 2001
• The deceased included Relu Ram Punia (50), his wife Krishna Devi (41), daughter Priyanka (14), son Sunil Kumar (23), daughter-in-law Shakuntala Devi (20), grandson Lokesh (4) and granddaughters Shivani (2) and two-month-old Preeti
• The deaths came to notice around 8 am the next day; Sonia found gasping in a bedroom as she had consumed insecticide after killing members of her family
• Relu Ram Punia, a multi-millionaire, was elected legislator from the Barwala Assembly segment in Hisar district as an Independent candidate in 1996