Girl from Punjab sold in Kaithal village for Rs 1 lakh, police rescue victim

KAITHAL: Police on Friday evening recovered a woman resident of Punjab, who was allegedly sold off to a local resident for Rs 1 lakh, from a village falling under Rajaund police station area near here.
The victim, daughter of a farm labourer and in her early 20s, had allegedly fallen prey to forced marriage by owners of a marriage bureau in Gurdaspur, where she worked as a maid.
Five persons -- Jasbir Kaur, the victim's employer, Meenu and Suman, her business associates in Jalandhar and Pehowa (Kurukshetra) respectively and two men identified as Baljit and Ramesh -- have been made accused in a case registered at Rajaund police station.
The accused have gone elusive and police parties are conducting raids for their arrests. "Meanwhile, we are verifying the contents of statements given by the victim," said inspector Dalel Singh, investigating officer.
In her statement, the victim said that Jasbir took her to Meenu's place in Jalandhar, from where they took her to Pehowa in Kurukshetra district. Suman arranged a meeting with Baljeet and Ramesh, residents of Soungal village, with whom they allegedly forced her marriage on March 15.
The victim alleged that she was kept in confinement for two months and was subjected to mental and physical torture as the accused had photographed her with Ramesh and Baljeet to establish the authenticity of marriage, police said.
"Once the accused join investigations, we shall be able to confirm the amount involved in the incident," police added.
"The victim was waiting for a chance to contact her family, which she got a couple of days ago. Soon after she contacted the family members, the latter approached local police who further informed us. The victim was rescued with the help of a warrant officer,'' Dalel Singh said.
However, Baljeet and Ramesh managed to escape from the place where the victim was kept, he added.