A 17-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh, India, was brutally shot dead by her own father in what police are calling an “honour killing”, after she allegedly insisted on marrying her boyfriend from another caste.
The teenager was reported missing on Tuesday (23 Sept).
Five days later, her body was discovered in the river near her family’s ancestral village, tightly wrapped in tarpaulin and weighed down with stones.
According to The Times of India, a neighbour recalled hearing gunshots and screams from the victim’s house on the night she vanished.
The girl’s father, named Bharat, initially gave police conflicting accounts of her disappearance.
He reportedly claimed at different times that his daughter had shot herself or that she had died after a ceiling fan collapsed.
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But under hours of interrogation, he eventually confessed to killing her after a heated argument over her relationship.
According to NDTV, the murder took place inside the family home — and, in some accounts, in front of the victim’s younger sister.
After the killing, Bharat allegedly transported his daughter’s body to the river in an attempt to mislead investigators.
Police have since recovered the weapon used in the crime and taken him into custody.
The body has been sent for a post-mortem to determine the exact cause of death.
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Preliminary investigations suggest the victim had repeatedly told her family she would marry the boy of her choice, despite their disapproval of his caste.
Her defiance allegedly enraged her father, culminating in the fatal shooting.
Authorities have pledged a full investigation, with the State Disaster Response Force assisting to preserve evidence as the case unfolds.
Also read: Woman in India strangled by father & brother a day after marrying a man they opposed
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