Youth beaten to death in Sirsa over love affairs, 8 booked

A 23-year-old young man was beaten to death in Roopawas village of Nathusari Chopta area of Sirsa district, just hours after he returned home with his family. The incident is linked to a love affair that had created tension in the village weeks earlier.

The victim, Sanwara, had left the village with his family 35 days ago after his cousin Ishwar and he eloped with two girls from the same village. The families of the girls strongly opposed the relationships, leading to a village panchayat. The panchayat ordered Sanwara and Ishwar’s families to leave the village and they moved away to live with relatives.

In the meantime, the girl who had gone with Sanwara returned to her home, but Ishwar continued to stay in a live-in relationship with the other girl in a nearby village.

On May 30, a second panchayat meeting was held at Jamal police post where the families of Sanwara and the girl who had returned reportedly reached a compromise. Following this, Sanwara returned to Roopawas with his father Rameshwar and sister-in-law Mamta.

However, the situation turned violent soon after. According to the police, the girl whom Ishwar had eloped with lived directly across Sanwara’s house. When her family saw Sanwara back in the village, they confronted him. They allegedly dragged him into their house, tied him to a cot and attacked him with sticks and rods.

Sanwara’s father and sister-in-law rushed to help him but were also assaulted by the attackers. The attackers then fled away. Sanwara’s family called up the police and Sanwara was taken to the community health centre in Nathusari Chopta, where doctors declared him dead.

Based on the complaint of Sanwara’s father Rameshwar, the police registered a case of murder against eight people from the girl’s family. The accused are Rohtash (the girl’s father), Tulsi, Nikhil, Mukesh, Jagdish, Sethi, Bala and Raju. All are residents of the same village and are currently absconding.

Station House Officer (SHO) Rajkumar of Nathusari Chopta police station confirmed that the body was taken for post-mortem examination to Sirsa Civil Hospital and later handed over to the family. He added that three police teams have been formed to arrest the accused.

Meanwhile, Sanwara’s brother, Mahender, has alleged that the village sarpanch, Udaypal, is also involved in the conspiracy. The police have said the matter is under investigation.