Woman Killed By Father, Brother. She Wanted To Marry A 'Distant Relative'

A case of suspected honour killing has come to light in Gonda district, where a 19-year-old woman was allegedly murdered by her father and brother for wanting to marry a distant relative, police said on Saturday. Superintendent of Police Vineet Jaiswal said that on Friday, information was received regarding the death of a young woman in Thorhans village, allegedly due to electrocution at home.

A call made to Dial-112 claimed that she had been murdered. Upon receiving this information, police arrived at the scene, conducted a preliminary examination of the body, sent it for a post-mortem, and initiated an investigation into the case.

Technical evidence was collected with the help of the field unit and dog squad. Based on the post-mortem report and other evidence, a case of murder was registered against her father, Chandra Prakash, and brother, Rahul, following a complaint lodged by the woman's prospective husband, Parmeshwar Pathak, leading to their arrest.

According to the SP, during questioning, the two men confessed that the woman intended to marry Pathak, a distant relative, against the wishes of her father and brother.

On January 30, upon discovering that she was preparing to leave home, they allegedly locked her in a room, bound her hands and feet, and smothered her mouth before electrocuting her with an electric cable, officials said.

Parmeshwar also provided the police with several letters written by the woman, in which she allegedly expressed fear of her father and brother, officials said, adding that the post-mortem examination report, conducted by a panel of two doctors and videographed, also confirmed death due to electrocution.

The SP mentioned that the accused tried to stage the crime as an accident by placing an ironing machine nearby, but the investigation uncovered the truth.

Evidence, including a muffler, dupatta, and the mobile phone used in the murder, has been recovered based on information provided by the accused.

Meanwhile, both the accused have been remanded to judicial custody.

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