Chandigarh:
The Mayor of Punjab's Patiala city and his son were on Saturday booked for the mysterious death of his daughter-in-law, 30-year-old Parampreet Kaur. The woman's body was found in the home of Mayor and Shironami Akali Dal (SAD) leader Jaspal Singh Pradhan and has strangulation marks, police said.
The woman's family alleges that she was murdered by her in-laws for dowry. They said she was constantly harassed as the family wanted to marry their son Harpreet again.
"Today it happened all of a sudden. We got a call from the neighbourhood, they all are responsible from her death. Mayor and his son and wife - they have killed her, it's not a suicide. We were threatened and they were not allowing us to get the body. They even assaulted us. He says I am Mayor and government is mine. We want justice," said the victim's father Amarjit Singh Sodhi.
The body has been sent for post-mortem and report is awaited.
Police say they have started investigations after a complaint from the family but are yet to make any arrest.
Jaspal Singh was elected Mayor of Patiala last year. Family alleges that he might try and use his political clout to escape justice.
"We want that there should be no political pressure on the police and they change the course of investigations," said Arinder Sodhi, a cousin of the victim.
Patiala MP and Minister of State Preneet Kaur says state government has failed to check crime against women in Punjab. "The political pressure in Punjab is condemnable. There should be justice," the Congress leader says.
The police investigation would certainly come under scrutiny since the accused in affiliated to ruling party in Punjab.