Haryana couple shot by girl's family, critical

Gurgaon -  A young couple, who eloped and got married in a temple about one and a half years ago, were battling for life at a Delhi hospital after the girl's relatives shot them in  Pataudi town in the district, Haryana Police said here.

Vedprakash, 26, and Monica, 24 -- both belonging to different castes -- were shot by members of the girl's family in Safeda Nagar area of Pataudi Thursday night.

The victims were first rushed to a civil hospital here but as their condition worsened, they were shifted to the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.

Monica is a resident of Patauda village in Haryana's Jhajjar district, while Vedprakash hails from Todapur village near Pataudi.

According to a police official, the two had eloped about one and a half years ago and married in a temple. They were living secretly at various places in Haryana and Rajasthan.

However, the girl's family traced them and assured it would get them married in the traditional manner.

"Thursday evening, Monica's family members took the couple in a car on the pretext of conducting their marriage. Later in the night, the duo were shot and left on a roadside near Safeda

Nagar," Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Praveen Kumar Mehta told IANS.

Seven people, including two women, have been booked in the case.

"We have booked Jyoti (Monica's mother), Lata and her husband (sister, brother-in-law), Raju, Bhola (brothers), Ashu and Praveen (brother's friends) on the charges of attempt to murder

along with other sections of the Indian Penal Code," Mehta said.

Several police teams have been deployed to nab the accused.