Girl killed for honour

A girl was murdered allegedly by her father and brother after she married against their wishes. The girl, Khamosh (18), married 21-year-old Sumat belonging to the same caste and same village — Nangla Kanwara, 80 km from Delhi, in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh.

A girl was murdered allegedly by her father and brother after she married against their wishes.

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The girl, Khamosh (18), married 21-year-old Sumat belonging to the same caste and same village — Nangla Kanwara, 80 km from Delhi, in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh.

The Baghpat police on Monday arrested Ramesh Chand for killing his daughter on April 3. His son Ankush was also arrested for silencing Khamosh in a bid to uphold the “family’s honour”.

Khaps or clan-based groups of Jats have been crossing swords with the government over issues such as the ban on marriages within the same gotra and same village. Many couples have in the past few months faced the music for defying the ‘Khap laws’.

Ramesh Chand, a mula Jat, and Ankush allegedly hatched a plot to kill Khamosh after they got wind of her affair with a boy
they disapproved of.

On April 3, they throttled her near the village tube well after they felt the coast was clear.

The duo then buried her body in an adjoining field and ran a tractor over the spot to remove any traces of evidence.

Last month, Baghpat Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar received an anonymous letter describing the ‘murder’. The SP took suo motu action on the letter and ordered the Doghat police station to file a case against the duo accused after an inquiry.

“After almost two months of investigation, the father-son duo confessed to killing Khamosh for dishonouring the family by marrying a boy from the gotra and village,” said the SP.

The police declined to say where the boy was. “He is studying B.Tech in an institution beyond the district,” a police officer said.

More than the Nangla Kanwara khap, “some influential persons” wanted the police to drop the case. A fake medical certificate was also produced to prove the girl had died of sickness.