Housefed murder case cracked

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune New s Service

Ludhiana, July 27

The police today claimed to have cracked the case of a domestic help’s murder, whose body was found in the compound of the Housefed flats on Pakhowal Road on July 22. The police have arrested Manoj Kumar, a resident of New Dasmesh Nagar, in the case.

According to information, Manoj has been working as a safai karamchari in the Housefed complex for the past 10 years and used to clean stairs and lifts. The deceased girl also worked in the same complex as a domestic help.

Rajwant Singh, SHO of Sarabha Nagar, said: “Manoj Kumar and Sonam used to meet each other while working in same complex. They had been in a love affair for the past six months. The girl got pregnant four months ago. She started pressuring Manoj Kumar into marrying her. Manoj is already married and has two children. He refused to marry her and asked her to get the pregnancy terminated.”

Upset at the attitude of Manoj, the girl threatened him with a police case. Manoj did not want to get exposed in the public.

On July 22, when the girl came to the complex, Manoj was already in the building. When she reached the fourth floor, he also went there. They entered into a heated argument over abortion. Manoj took the girl in flat no. 112, which was kept opened for whitewash. The painters were not in the flat at that time.

He started thrashing the girl and killed her in the flat. Then he took the body and came to the ground floor through a lift. The girl’s hair got stuck in the lift, which proved to be a vital clue in the case.

During investigation, the police found Manoj’s role suspicious. The police arrested him. During investigation, he confessed to the crime.

Earlier, the police had booked an exporter and his son on charges of the girl’s murder. The girl worked at the exporter’s flat as a domestic help. The kin of the deceased and Dalit activists staged a violent protest. The demonstrators vandalised a house in the area.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Ishwarjot Singh Cheema demanded action against SAD leaders, who were leading the demonstrators on July 22 and 23, for their irresponsible action.