Kharar: A 28-year-old Punjabi social media influencer from Kharar, Manjeet Kaur, died at PGIMER Chandigarh on August 26, nearly two months after she was allegedly abducted, assaulted and tied to a tree before being set on fire in Morinda.
Manjeet, who had around 1.46 lakh followers on Instagram and nearly 4,000 YouTube subscribers, is survived by her seven-year-old child.
What happened?
According to a complaint filed by Manjeet’s mother, Kanta Devi, the incident took place on the night of July 3. She alleged that two acquaintances, identified as Shubhi and Pinda, called Manjeet near a liquor shop in Sector 34, Chandigarh.
The two allegedly forced her into a vehicle and took her to Morinda, where she was assaulted, tied to a mulberry tree and set on fire. A friend who reached the spot reportedly extinguished the flames using a blanket.
Manjeet was initially taken to a hospital in Morinda, then shifted to Max Hospital in Mohali and later admitted to PGIMER Chandigarh on July 9.
Family alleges police negligence
The family has alleged that Manjeet regained consciousness on August 5 and wanted to give a statement to the police, but her statement was not recorded due to alleged negligence by Kharar Sadar Police.
Kharar DSP Ishan Singla rejected the allegations, saying the incident fell under Chandigarh Police’s jurisdiction and that Kharar Police had assisted the family in getting a case registered in Chandigarh.
Following Manjeet’s death, Chandigarh Police registered a case at Sector 34 police station on her mother’s complaint under Sections 140(1) (kidnapping), 103(1) (murder) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
DSP (South) Gurjit Kaur said the suspects have been identified and police teams are conducting raids to arrest them. Police are also examining CCTV footage as part of the investigation.
