On a day when Sarabjit Singh was cremated with full state honour at his ancestral village in Punjab, family members of Chamel Singh said he should also be bestowed with the title of a martyr.

"Sarabjit Singh was killed in the same jail where our father was murdered. The same persons who killed Sarabjit were involved in the killing of my father," alleged Chamel Singh's son, Deepak. "We appeal to the Centre that our father should also be accorded the title of a martyr," Deepak said.

Chamel Singh, who hailed from a border village of Pargwal in Akhnoor of Jammu, was beaten to death in Pakistan's Kot Lakhpat jail on January 15 this year and his body was brought back here on March 13.

"We are four brothers and are forced to quit education and work for our survival. We appeal to the government to help our family in the same way as Sarabjit's family has been done.

Both Centre and state government should think about us," he said. Chamel Singh, who was about to complete a five-year prison term for his alleged involvement in an espionage case, died in Lahore with reports saying that he was "mercilessly beaten" by Pakistani prison staff.