ROHTAK/BATHINDA: Three women protesters from Punjab’s Mansa district were crushed to death by a truck close to Pakora Chowk in Bahadurgarh, near the Tikri-Bahadurgarh border when they were waiting to return home early on Thursday. Two other women, Harmeet Kaur (60) and Gurmail Kaur (65) were seriously injured and are undergoing treatment at PGIMS Rohtak.
The deceased women, Sukhwinder Kaur (60), Amarjeet Kaur (58) and Gurmail Kaur (60), who belonged to Kheeva Dyaluwala village in Mansa district, were activists of farm organisation BKU Ekta Ugrahan. According to Jhajjar SP Wasim Akram, seven women protesters were waiting for an autorickshaw to reach Bahadurgarh railway station to return to Mansa at 5.30 am. A truck from the Jhajjar side, carrying construction material, came and the driver lost control and crushed the women who were waiting on the road divider.
The police said they would send the bodies for post-mortem after holding a meeting with farm leaders present on the spot.
The families of the deceased women have demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, saying they feel there is some conspiracy behind their deaths.
The protesters have demanded compensation of Rs 10 lakh each and a job to one of the family members of the deceased women, said activist Gurlabh Singh Mahal.
SKM seeks probe into all incidents
"The three women belonged to small farming families, having 3-4 acres of land and all the families had transplanted paddy which still has not been harvested,” according to farm activist Harinder Singh, who too belongs to Kheeva Dyaluwala village.
The family of Amarjit Kaur, who was a widow, owns 4 acres of land. Her daughter Lakhwinder Kaur, 28, has cleared IELTS and was to get married on January 23. The family owes nearly Rs 10 lakh to the bank and money lenders. Sukhwinder Kaur, also a widow, owned only 2 acres of land. Her family owes over Rs 5 lakh to the bank and money lenders. The deceased Gurmail Kaur family has 4.5 acres of land.
Farm leader Shingara Singh Mann said the driver of the tipper fled from the scene after the accident. The police need to investigate how these women were hit when they were sitting on the road divider.
