Bibi Jagir Kaur

When Bibi Jagir Kaur was handpicked in 1999 by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to be the first woman president of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) since its inception in 1920, it was seen as step towards women empowerment. Soon after, however, the case of the death of her elder daughter, Harpreet Kaur (alias Rosie), 19, in mysterious circumstances came to light, and she had to quit. The macabre case of Begowal Village would outdo any Bollywood masala movie, in which a powerful parent will resort to coercion, and even violence, to prevent a daughter from marrying a boy from a poor family. In Rosie's case, it was a clean-shaven Sikh. The Bibi continued to enjoy the benefit of anticipatory bail all through. She sticks to her “lemon-fizz” statement of 10 years ago: “She died of food poisoning. I was busy in the Khalsa tercentenary celebrations when I got the news of her illness that she was having loose motions. I advised her to take lemon juice. But by the evening, her condition deteriorated and she breathed her last on the way to hospital near Phillaur. It was the biggest loss of my life.”

                                              

Young Harpreet had married Kamaljit Singh, a boy of her own choice, without taking her mother's permission. Mystery surrounded the death of Harpreet on April 20, 2000, followed by a hurried cremation. If a petition had not been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court by Kamaljit Singh on April 27 alleging that Harpreet had been confined in a mansion in Phagwara, was forced to undergo an abortion against her will, and was subsequently murdered, the case would never have come to light. Young Harpreet's body was cremated in a hurry even before the scheduled time on the morning of April 21, without any post-mortem and other formalities, even though traces of pesticide were found on the carpet in the room in which Harpreet died.

It was only when her dejected lover-husband released documented proof of Harpreet's pregnancy and their marriage, that there was outrage. Kamaljit's family released tapes of the young couple's engagement, which showed Harpreet happy and glowing.

The High Court handed over the case to the CBI, after which the owners and servants of Jasdil Mansion, where Harpreet had been kept under duress for a month following a forced abortion. The two theories broadly considered were: (a) Continuous physical and mental torture compelled the young woman to commit suicide or (b) she was poisoned after she refused to leave her husband.

The past 10 years have seen many ups and downs, and even Kamaljit turned hostile last year as he said he had to face constant harassment and pressure. In March 2011, he sought re-examination of the case, and the CBI court accepted his application. However, petty counter cases have been slapped on him in Begowal. “The effort is to keep me away from recording the statement. I will have to move the High Court to get Jagir Kaur’s bail cancelled as she has been continuously using her political clout,” he told media persons. Jagir Kaur in turn says: “My political opponents are trying to ruin me politically, socially and economically.” She chooses to ignore the evidence presented in the court as proof of her daughter’s engagement, marriage and pregnancy.