Honour killings --- the deadly venom of caste-ism ?

'Honour killing' in Delhi takes chilling turn. another murder rocks Delhi

22 Jun 2010, 1228 hrs IST

Delhi is in a state of shock after two suspected honour killings in the capital took a chilling turn on Tuesday (June 22) with the discovery of a third body in the boot of the car belonging to the missing suspects. The case of double murder seems to have turned overnight into a possible serial killing with the suspected killers on the lose. After the discovery of the bodies of Monica and Kuldeep, a couple residing in Delhi, a third body belonging to the woman's sister has been found in the car believed to belong to the suspected murderers. The car, a Black Santro, had been standing in the parking lot not 300 metres from the scene of the first crime, but was only discovered today when the attendant complained to police of a foul smell emanating from it. The badly decomposed 36-hours-old body of Shobhana was then extricated from the locked vehicle. The late discovery of the third body so near the crime scene exposes the ineptitude of the investigating team. It is apparent that the beat constable for the past two days had not bothered to check the car, despite the fact that the suspects were known to be travelling in a car matching that description. The victim Shobhana is Monica's sister who reportedly ran away from home and had been missing for a month or so. Her body, which was identified today by a cousin, bears the signs of strangulation according to forensic experts. Monica, a Gujjar and Kuldeep, a Jat, had married four years ago against their families' wishes and were found murdered in the Ashok Vihar area of north-west Delhi on Sunday evening. While the man's body was found in a car outside their rented flat - 1/ 68 in Ashok Vihar's Phase III - his wife was found dead inside the house. Police have detained 10 persons for questioning and for the now the finger of suspicion for all three murders is pointing firmly towards Ankit, the brother of Monica, and his friend Mandeep. Monika's father, Lilu, her uncle, Dharmendra, her youngest brother Shanky and his friend Suraj, besides other relatives are being questioned. Police surmise that Ankit and Mandeep are two boys bent on revenge for what they see as Monica's and Shobhana's betrayal to their community, and could be planning on carrying on more killings of hapless couples in the name of honour. An attempt to murder case is still pending against Ankit from a previous incident of assault on Kuldeep's cousin. Ankit and Mandeep have apparently contacted their friends and told them they would attack more couples who dared defy their community diktat. According to the sources, Shobhana's murder was carried out shortly after those of her sister and her husband. The killers were planning to dump her body in a canal in Ghaziabad, but for some reason failed to do so and decided to bring their car back to the first crime spot, parked the car the nearby lot and fled. The two are suspected to be hiding on the outskirts of Delhi, either in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh or Haryana.