A 17-year-old girl was allegedly shot dead by her father in a suspected honour killing case in Morena district, Madhya Pradesh. Police said that the girl's body was found dumped in the Kwari River by the SDRF on Sunday morning.
The Class 12 student, Divya, was reported missing on Saturday. Morena Civil Lines police station in charge, Darshan Shukla said that the the body was recovered at least five days after the murder, wrapped in plastic. The remains have been sent to a postmortem, and investigations are continuing.
Bharat, who goes by Bantu Sikarwar, was taken into custody on Saturday after a neighbour reported her missing through a call. The caller also said that he had heard gunshots and screams from the house four days earlier.
Police officials said that the father allegedly carried the body, wrapped it in plastic, tied it to a stone, and threw it into the Kunwri River, 30 minutes away from their home, four hours after the murder.
Police search for the body of the girl had begun on Saturday but had to be paused due to darkness and resumed on Sunday morning. The body was recovered by officials around 10 am.
The incident occurred on September 23-24 in the family's home located in the Ambah Bypass area of Morena. Police said that Sikarwar was upset when he learned that his daughter was friends with a boy from another caste. When questioned, he gave evasive replies. The father initially claimed that the teen died after a ceiling fan fell on her. Later, the parents claimed the girl died by suicide.
Forensic experts found on single gunshot wound to the head, NDTV reported.
"Divya's body has been recovered from the Kunwari River and sent for post-mortem. Only after the forensic report will we be able to confirm the cause of death," Assistant Superintendent of Police Surendra Pal Singh Dabar confirmed.
Divya had two younger siblings, both of whom were missing since the night of the incident. Police say that the siblings disappeared, and the parents' statement strengthens the possibility of murder.
A senior police officer said that the preliminary investigations indicated that the teen spoke about marrying a boy from another caste. ‘“Despite persuasion, she insisted on marrying him. Enraged, her father shot her dead,” he said.
