‘PGIMER in Chandigarh is a culprit…it could not stop my wife’s killer’

Harmeet’s father Joga Singh showed no remorse over his son’s actions. (Express Photo: Kamleshwar Singh)

Terming it a case of “honour” killing, the Chandigarh Police on November 21 arrested four persons — the victim’s younger brother Jasmeet Singh; their relative Butta Singh; Manjeet Singh, an independent and qualified attendant who worked on contract basis; and paramedic Jaspreet Kaur.

“Our investigation has revealed that Jaspreet Kaur injected the victim with a mix of sleeping pills, sanitizer and a household insect killer. Harmeet’s sister-in-law Jatinder Kaur, who was the patient attendant at the hospital, saw the woman running away from Harmeet after injecting her. Jatinder clicked a picture of the paramedic. She is now our prime witness in the case,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (Central) Gurmukh Singh.

Nearly 45 km away, at Pehar Khurd village, near Patiala’s Rajpura, Harmeet’s husband Gurvinder Singh, 27, has been struggling to find answers to questions that have been haunting him since her death.

“What was our fault? Just that Harmeet and I loved each other, and wanted to spend the rest of our lives together? Who do I blame now? I knew how much Harmeet’s family hated us, but I can’t believe that someone simply walked inside an institute like PGIMER, murdered her and walked away,” says Gurvinder, as he gently picks up his newborn son from inside a cloth cradle.

A day after she delivered her baby at a private hospital in Patiala on November 4, Harmeet was rushed to PGIMER due to excessive bleeding and severe infection (puerperal sepsis). She had already undergone dialysis before she was referred to PGIMER, a hospital spokesperson had said on December 10, the day Harmeet died.

Harmeet and Gurvinder during their secret wedding at a Chandigarh gurdwara in September 2022. (Special Arrangement)

Calling the murder an “unfortunate incident”, PGIMER Medical Superintendent Dr Vipin Koushal had said that a security guard was present on duty at the gynaecology ward on the night of November 15.

“The institute has now sent a proposal to hire 350 more security personnel due to high patient load and severe staff crunch. To improve security at the Nehru Hospital block and other areas of the institute, a tender has been floated for more CCTV cameras,” says Dr Koushal, adding that the security department has been instructed to be stricter with people entering wards and to ensure they carry visitor passes.

But these steps are of no consolation for Gurvinder. “The first culprits, according to me, are my in-laws. But the second culprit is PGIMER, whose security had no way of stopping my wife’s killer. Harmeet and I had promised each other that we would live and die together. It’s all over,” he says.

Of childhood love and the caste gulf

Childhood friends, Gurvinder and Harmeet were inseparable while growing up in Pehar Khurd village. Their bond deepened as they enrolled in the same college — Patiala’s Patel Memorial National College. It didn’t matter to them that they belonged to different castes — he a Rajput, she a Jatt — or that his was a family of landless daily wagers, while hers was among the richest in the village.

Gurvinder says, “Harmeet and I were in different schools, but went to the same tuition class. That’s when we started liking each other. Over time, we realised that we could not stay away from each other. But by then, our families came to know of our relationship. Her parents made her switch to distance learning and started threatening me. Her two brothers and I got into several scuffles. Her eldest brother is settled in the US. I believe he too was involved in the conspiracy to kill her.”

Harmeet and Gurvinder moved to Noida in January 2023. (Special Arrangement)

Gurvinder says Harmeet and he got married in secret at a gurdwara in Chandigarh in September 2022 before going back to their own homes. In January this year, Gurvinder says, Harmeet was forced to move in with her maternal relatives at Jansui village, barely 5 km from Pehar Khurd. However, Harmeet managed to escape from Jansui village on January 19 and was united with Gurvinder.

“From then till July, we stayed in Noida. I joined a Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) outlet, while Harjeet started stitching clothes to earn money. When Harmeet got pregnant, we were thrilled. We had no plans to return to the village, but my mother fell ill,” says Gurvinder, adding that his mother passed away on July 31.

His father Amar Singh, 61, says the family has been living in fear for several years now. “They killed my daughter-in-law. Now we are scared for my grandson. The killers are behind bars, but we are surrounded by their family members. We have decided to approach the police for security,” he says.

(From left) Harmeet’s father-in-law Amar Singh speaks to The Indian Express, as her husband Gurvinder Singh cradles his son at their house in Pehar Khurd village near Patiala’s Rajpura. (Express Photo: Kamleshwar Singh)

Gurvinder says Harmeet and he had plans to move abroad. “Harmeet had cleared IELTS. She was very talented and had many certificates in short-term fashion designing and boutique courses. We had all these plans… Everything is ruined now. He (the baby) is our only hope,” he says, still cradling his baby.

Though Gurvinder has named his son Karamvir on the suggestion of the village granthi, he says he will call him Yuvi. “That’s the name his mother gave him,” he says.

Metres away from Gurvinder’s house, in the front part of the village, Harmeet’s father Jogga Singh, 65, displays no remorse over his daughter’s death.

“My son killed his sister to uphold our family honour. We killed our family member; we did not harm the boy (Gurvinder). They (Gurvinder and Harmeet) had been warned not to return to the village but they did just that and my son could not tolerate it,” he says.

Harmeet’s sister-in-law Jatinder Kaur is the main eyewitness in the case. (Express Photo: Kamleshwar Singh)

Jogga’s house, where Harmeet was born and raised, is easily five times bigger than Gurvinder’s house, which is located on the far end of the village.

Jogga was not alone in hailing his son Jagmeet’s act of “avenging his family’s honour”. At least three others standing with Jogga were in agreement over Harmeet’s killing for the sake of family honour.