Family ties soaked in blood

Gurmeet Singh murdered 13 members of his family in 1986,and though the Centre rejected his mercy plea this month,survivors of the massacre say their suffering may never end....

I don8217;t care whether he lives or dies, is all Paramjit Singh has to say when he is told that the Centre has advised the President not to commute his uncle Gurmeet Singhs death sentence to life imprisonment.

Paramjit will always be haunted by the bloodbath that took place on the night of August 17,1986,when Gurmeet and his friend Lakha Singh who is now dead massacred 13 members of the family. Armed with swords,the two killed Gurmeets father Nazir Singh,his two brothers and their wives,and eight children. Among the dead were Paramjits parents and two younger brothers. Four others,including Paramjit and sister Ranjit Kaur,survived the massacre.

One of the survivors is Paramjits cousin Veera Kaur,who,like Paramjit,was 10 at the time. She was severely injured and lost three of her fingers but managed to save her life by pretending to be dead. Her parents and siblings four sisters and two brothers ranging in age from six months to seven years were not so fortunate. I want him hanged, says Veera. The fourth person who survived was their uncle Balwinder Singh,who took care of the children until he died a few months ago.

The motive for the crime was rooted in a family dispute over Gurmeet and Lakhas friendship the family members suspected that Lakha was having an affair with Gurmeets wife Dalbeer Kaur. However,Gurmeet was adamant about continuing his association with Lakha. Nazir Singh gave Gurmeet his share of property and disowned him. Yet tensions continued to simmer.

Veera recalls,Two days before the massacre,Paramjits mother was bringing some food for her husband in the fields when Lakha Singh abused her. When grandfather came to know of this,he slapped Lakha Singh and threatened to take the matter before the panchayat.

The day before the panchayat was to meet,Gurmeet and Lakha struck at night when the victims were asleep. Carrying swords,they first went to Nazir Singhs house and killed him. Then they went to another house about half-a-kilometre away where the others lived and attacked them.

Paramjit remembers every detail of that night. I was sleeping on the terrace when I heard the others screaming. Then I saw Gurmeet and Lakha chasing my uncle Man Singh with swords in their hands. I was scared but I quietly went downstairs and ran to my grandfathers house. My sister came after me. We thought our grandfather would intervene but we found him lying dead. After that,my sister and I hid behind a wall.

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Paramjits neighbour Peera Singh,whose house was about half a km away,said he was asleep when Balwinder Singh came and asked for help. There was blood on his face. I came out and called other members of Balwinders family,but Gurmeet threatened me and asked me to go back inside. We took the injured to the hospital and informed the police.

Balwinders wife Daljeet Kaur was,luckily,away that day. When she heard about the incident the next day,she came home immediately. There was blood everywhere and the place was surrounded by police, she recalls.Both Gurmeet and Lakha had got bail and Lakha was later shot dead by two unidentified persons.

Gurmeet,meanwhile,was awarded the death sentence and again went to jail. The Supreme Court dismissed Gurmeets appeal on September 28,2005,saying that he deserved no leniency as he had not shown even a grain of mercy. The Centre,apparently,agrees.