Narwana (Haryana), July 24 - The wife of a young man who was lynched by a village mob in Haryana's Jind district, Friday deposed against her dead husband saying that he had tricked her into eloping with him and getting married. Her parents and relatives have been booked by police for the murder.

Meanwhile, the Haryana police Friday suspended station house officer (SHO) Balwant Singh for abandoning the young man, Ved Pal, who was Wednesday evening accompanied by a Punjab and Haryana High Court warrant officer and some policemen as he went to Singhwal village near here to bring his wife Sonia back. The policemen left him alone when they saw a mob of villagers approaching Ved Pal. He was lynched by the mob.

Sonia Friday deposed before the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) here. She told magistrate Hukum Singh that Ved Pal, 21, had tricked her into eloping with him and duped her into marrying him.

The deposition came as the Haryana police failed to arrest any of her family members and people of her village who had lynched Ved Pal.

Nearly 15 policemen, including the SHO, were accompanying Ved Pal on court orders Wednesday. The high court warrant officer, Suraj Bhan was also injured in the attack.

The 'khap' panchayat (kangaroo/village council) of Singhwal village had issued a death sentence for the couple, Ved Pal and Sonia, March this year for marrying in the same 'gotra' (clan) against the wishes of the community.

Jind district police chief Satheesh Balan told IANS: 'We are trying to trace the culprits who killed the youth.'

Human rights activist Ranjan Lakhanpal said in Chandigarh that the politicians and administration in Haryana had become helpless in front of the khap panchayats.

'They have been mocking at the established law of land and everyone including the government authorities and police had been mute spectators.