US dream goes awry as Kaithal farmer’s son dies in Guatemala

One and half months after he left home, albeit illegally, in hopes of a better future, the 33-year-old son of a farmer from Kaithal’s Mataur village lost his life before he could enter the United States.

As per the family members the deceased, identified as Malkeet Singh, was killed in Guatemala and they had received a video confirming his death. They have since alleged that they had paid ₹25 lakh to an agent who promised to take him to the US via a donkey route covering Kazakhstan and Turkey, An additional ₹15 lakh was to be paid after the deceased would reach the US.

A few days after he left home on February 17, Malkeet maintained contact with his family members and would share his location and photographs with them.

Since March 7, however, there was no contact with him. The family received a video message, purportedly shot in Guatemala, showing Malkeet’s bullet-ridden body. They then reached out to the police and filed a complaint against the agent, Ishwar Singh, and two others, who have been booked under sections 370 (buying or disposing of any person as a slave), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 24 of the Immigration Act.

Rajeev Kumar, Malkeet’s younger brother, meanwhile, alleged that they had met Ishwar Singh, who agreed to help get the deceased to the US in exchange of ₹40 lakh. He sought ₹25 lakh in advance.

On February 17, the family dropped Malkeet at the New Delhi airport and he reached Istanbul on March 1 and Panama City a day later. He was in constant touch with the family members until that point.

On March 3, Rajeev paid ₹20 lakh to Ishwar at his office. When their correspondence with the deceased broke on March 7, they tried contacting Ishwar and they met him on several occasions but did not receive a satisfactory response. On March 30, they received a video with the deceased’s body through social media.

Rajeev alleged that his brother’s body had multiple injuries and a bullet injury as seen in the video and accused Ishwar and others of hatching the conspiracy to kill his brother. The family has appealed to the government to help bring the deceased’s body back to India.

Malkeet is survived by his parents and a younger brother and an elder sister. His father, Satpal Sinngh, owns 7 acres of agricultural land in the Mataur village and the family had borrowed money from ahrtia to send him abroad. Malkeet graduated with a diploma after completing school.

Police, meanwhile, said an investigation has been initiated and efforts are being made to nab the accused.