A 23-year-old B.Com student was allegedly killed by her engineer father in the city.

The body of the girl, Mala, a final year student in a Meerut college, was found in the bathroom of her residence in Shastri Nagar area yesterday, police said. The victim's mother lodged a police complaint alleging that her husband Bhim Singh, who is an engineer in Ahmedabad and had come home on leave, killed the girl as he was upset about not having a son.

The couple has one more daughter who is married.

However, the accused father, who has been taken into custody, denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, police have also taken into custody a friend of the victim for questioning.

According to police, prima facie evidence suggested the death occurred due to forcible drowning in a tub of water.

The police have sent the body for postmortem and are investigating the matter.