Family members of Kanta Devi, who took her own life on January 14, staged a dharna on the Hoshiarpur-Chandigarh road, blocking traffic in front of the Garhshankar police station. They demanded the arrest of her father-in-law and other accused in the case of abetment to suicide. The protestors raised slogans against Punjab Police, causing a long queue of vehicles to form on both sides of the road.
Kanta Devi’s brother, Raj Kumar, mother, Santosh Kumari and maternal uncle, Subhash Chandra, claimed she had been harassed by her husband and in-laws since her marriage. While the police had arrested her husband, Gagandeep, they had not arrested her father-in-law, Kewal Krishan or the other accused, alleging Kewal Krishan’s position in the police force was influencing the investigation.
The family accused the police of delaying the arrest of Kewal Krishan, along with the mother-in-law and sister-in-law.
After talks with Garhshankar Deputy Superintendent of PoliceJaspreet Singh the protest ended when he assured the protesters the remaining accused would be arrested by Saturday.