New Delhi:
Delhi Police have arrested the two men suspected to have killed their sisters and the husband of one of them on the weekend, all for "honour."
Mandeep and Ankit were arrested in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, police said on Thursday. The two men are cousins. A friend, Nakul, has also been arrested for helping the two.
Police say the two cousins shot dead Ankit's sister Monica and the man she had eloped with and married, Kuldeep, in West Delhi's upwardly mobile Ashok Vihar on Sunday. They are also suspected to have killed Mandeep's sister, Shobha, for helping the two elope.
Earlier on Thursday, two relatives of the accused were arrested for spreading hatred between two communities. They had spoken in support of the alleged "honour killings". But they were not alone. Mandeep's father has said: "I think the youth have done a good job. Let society get the message. I support it completely."
Not how you'd expect a father to react to the news that his young daughter has been shot dead. But this father, in a village called Wazirpur in North West Delhi, has no regrets. Mandeep and Ankit are described as heroes in this part of the National Capital. Nitin, Mandeep's cousin, told NDTV on Tuesday, "We are educated people... this is the right thing to do, society will go for a toss otherwise... they were from the same village."
Delhi Police says it has also found and detained the man who sold the guns allegedly used in the murders.
The killings have imploded on Delhi's consciousness. Ashok Vihar is a part of Delhi that prides itself on an upwardly-mobile matrix of offices, restaurants, houses and malls. Women politicians from different parties have condemned the murders, agreeing that the government needs to take a more aggressive stand on "honour killings" - a term that's now beginning to grate on a country which witnesses - nearly daily - cases of young couples being killed by their families for daring to marry against locally-upheld norms of caste.
(
With PTI inputs)