LUDHIANA: A day after a seven-month pregnant woman was allegedly killed by her husband and his brother in Jandia Kalan village, the duo was handed over to the police by the village panchayat on Tuesday. The accused were identified as Irvinder Singh (30) and his elder brother Nirmal Singh (33) — both farmers of Jandi Kalan village in Sidhwan Bet.On Sunday night, the accused had allegedly tried to forcibly abort the foetus of Manjit Kaur (32) by tying her arms and pressing her abdomen, following which she died on the spot. Sidhwan Bet police had registered a case under sections 302 (murder), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman's consent), 314 (death caused by act done with intent to cause miscarriage) and 315 (act done with intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth) of IPC, following a complaint by Ravinder Singh, father of the deceased.The complainant said the husband of the deceased didn't want a second girl child, as the couple already had a two- year-old daughter after their marriage on 23 March 2011. The accused would frequently torture his wife for bearing a girl child, and suspected that the second child would also be a daughter. Police said that in the preliminary investigation, it was found that Irvinder had forcibly tried to abort the foetus, tied Manjit's hands, and kept pressing the abdomen till the foetus came out, following which Manjit died. They added that Manjit's body and the foetus were recovered from a freezer in the house.SHO Sidhwan Bet police station, Paramjit Singh, said the village panchayat had handed the accused over to the police at around 1pm on Tuesday. He added that the police were trying to ascertain from where the accused had bought the abortion kit in Ludhiana. Cops said Manjit's mother-in-law remained terminally ill and was bed-ridden, and her daughter also lived with them. Complainant Ravinder told police that the panchayat members had called him up after hearing the cries of his daughter. He rushed to the dairy farm, where Irvinder and Nirmal worked and also slept sometimes, but did not find anyone there. Later, he went to Irvinder's house and found Manjit's body and the foetus in the freezer.Ravinder told police that the claim of the accused that Manjit herself got the sex determination of her foetus done was wrong, and it was the two brothers who had got the same done, as they wanted a male child only. Police said Manjit had earlier filed a case against her husband afew years ago in the women's cell police station in Jagraon for mentally and physically harassing her.

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