Avtar Singh's parents await son's body
Harbans Kaur, the mother of Maj Avtar Singh, an ex-Army officer who killed his wife, son and later committed suicide in the US last week, wants to see is the mortal remains of her son and his family.
But sad enough, the 85-year-old wailing mother, isn’t sure if their bodies would be brought to their native village in Yamunanagar in Haryana, for the last rites. And to add to the woes, Maj Singh’s 90-year-old father Amar Singh, is nearly bed-ridden and suffers from weak mental faculties.
The grief-stricken parents of the former Army officer, hope that something will be done to get the bodies back home for the last rites. Family sources said they would meet the authorities to help them bring back the bodies; they are likely to meet the deputy commissioner on Wednesday to seek help.
Behind the sordid reality of loss of loved ones, lies the families’ continuous trauma at the hands of Maj Singh. Singh’s school friend, Sultan Singh, a resident of Ponty village near Jagadhari town, said Avtar and his parents were extremely worried after they learnt about their son facing charges for murdering a Kashmiri human rights activist Jaleel Andrabi in March 1996.
Singh snapped contacts with his family, friends and relatives in India after the incident. It was only a few years back that he resumed communication with his sister Inderjit Kaur. Family sources said Singh’s parents disinherited him after he faced criminal case for murder in Kashmir to avert any untoward fallout on them. Sultan Singh said days before the tragic incident occurred in the US, Singh had called up his family members to know about their well being.
The turn of events for the family in Yamunanagar are shocking. Sultan said. Further, he maintained that everybody in the village knew him as a bright boy from the days he went to King George Royal Indian Military School in Dholpur. Before joining the Army, he was associated with the IAF. But, fate befell on him, and he was declared a murderer.
