Rajdeep Kaur (32), a US-based Punjabi woman, was allegedly murdered by her in-laws in a Kapurthala village of Punjab after being called back to India on the pretext of attending a relative’s wedding.
The mother of a five-year-old son, Rajdeep was a US citizen and is believed to have been murdered for her insurance money. “It is believed the woman was murdered as she had a hefty life insurance coverage,” Babandeep Singh, DSP, Sultanpur Lodhi said.
Rajdeep’s mother-in-law Daljit Kaur and father-in-law Jagdev Singh were arrested by police on Monday (29th January) morning. Her husband, Manjinder Singh, who is in the United States, has also been charged.
Rajdeep Kaur was murdered between the night of January 19 and 20 at Nano Malian village, Kapurthala. Her husband had insisted that she and their five-year-old kid travel to Kapurthala on 12th January. While she was a US citizen, her husband is reportedly living illegally in the country and is trying to obtain a green card.
According to the post-mortem examination report, the cause of death was “asphyxia due to smothering” stated the police.
The victim’s in-laws stored the body in a freezer in Sidhwa Dona village for two days before reporting their daughter-in-law’s death to the Sultanpur Lodhi police. On 23rd January, police took the body for a post-mortem examination.
Meanwhile, Rajdeep’s parents in the UK learned of their daughter’s death over the phone. On 25th January, her mother Nirmal Kaur traveled to India, fearing Rajdeep had been murdered, and filed a complaint with the Sultanpur Lodhi police.
On 27th January, Rajdeep’s relatives protested outside the Sultanpur Lodhi police station, prompting the registration of an FIR against the deceased’s in-laws.
“Rajdeep was constantly tortured by her husband. He wanted her to name all her property in his name so that he could get a green card. My daughter was called to India on the basis of a lie about a wedding. It was a plan to kill her. Her husband Manjinder told us she died of a heart attack. Another relative said she died due to gas from a room heater,” Nirmal Kaur said.
“Rajdeep was invited to Kapurthala on the pretext of the wedding of the son of Manjinder’s aunt. But there was no wedding. The woman died due to asphyxia, establishing that she was murdered. The FIR was lodged against the in-laws and husband the very day (Saturday) the post-mortem examination report came,” DSP Babandeep Singh said.
