3 Of Family Killed In Punjab Over Inter-caste Marriage

Three members of a man's family were killed in a Punjab village by the family of his wife who hailed from a Dalit community, police said.

Prima facie it seemed to be a case of honour killing as the family had been allegedly threatening the groom since their marriage, a police official said. The cause of the crime was the recent marriage against the wishes of the bride's family.

The crime occurred on late Monday in Naushehra village, some 30 km from Tarn Taran district headquarters. The victims -- farmer Joginder Singh, 65, his son Pawandip, and daughter Prabhjit belonged to Dhalla village.

The husband Harmanjit and his wife managed to escape the assault, the police said. The hunt is on for the arrest of Beera Singh and his sons, Vardip, Arshdip and Sukh, and his relatives, Happy, Govinda and Manny, besides five unidentified men. Harmanjit had married Beera's daughter a month ago.