Bibi Jagir Kaur jailed in daughter's abortion case

A special CBI court today acquitted Punjab minister Bibi Jagir Kaur of charges of murdering her daughter. However the court ruled that she was guilty of forcing her daughter to undergo an abortion and illegal confinement.[caption id="attachment_261333" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Bibi Jagir Kaur had to resign from her post at the SGPC due to the murder allegations. AFP"][/caption]Kaur was awarded five years imprisonment and also fined Rs 5,000 by the special CBI court.Kaur, who was present in the court of special CBI judge Balbir Singh, was immediately taken into judicial custody for being sent to the Central Jail at Patiala. She broke down immediately after her sentence was announced.Three others Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, Paramjit Singh Raipur and Nishan Singh were also convicted for criminal conspiracy. The three were fined Rs 5,000 each.Another accused Satya Devi was acquitted of all charges while another accused Sanjiv Kumar died during the trial.Kaur is a cabinet minister in the Punjab government and is a former head of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). She had to retire from her post at the SGPC after the accusations of murder were levelled against her.Kaur's daughter, Harpreet, died under mysterious circumstances on 20 April 2000 and her mother had claimed that she had died while being taken to hospital while suffering from a severe bout of food poisoning.Contrary to normal procedure an autopsy was not carried out on the body and Harpreet's cremation was carried out.A case was registered after Kamaljeet Singh, a man claiming to be Harpreet's husband, approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging that Kaur had murdered his wife since she was against their relationship and the fact that her daughter was pregnant with their child.The high court had ordered a CBI probe into the matter.Singh also alleged that Kaur had forced her daughter to abort the foetus. However, Singh later changed his stance.Kaur and other accused Dhesi, Raipur and Sub Inspector Nishan Singh were acquited of charge under 302 IPC (murder).Kaur was convicted under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 313 (forcible abortion - causing miscarriage without woman's consent), 344 (wrongful confinement of more than 10 days) and 365 (kidnapping or abduction with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person).Dhesi and Raipur were convicted under section 313 (forcible abortion /causing miscarriage without woman'sconsent).Both along with Singh were convicted under section 365 of the IPC (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person) and awarded a sentence of three years imprisonment and fined Rs 2,000 each.Dhesi, Raipur and Singh were also convicted under section 344 IPC (wrongful confinement for 10 or more days). The three were awarded one years imprisonment and fined Rs 1,000 each.All the sentences of the accused would run concurrently, the court ordered.with inputs from PTI