Sopore man held for 'killing' minor daughter

Police in Kashmir have arrested a man on charge of killing his four-year-old daughter as "he suspected her to be illegitimate".Muskan Altaf was found dead with her throat slit in an orchard in Sopore town on June 15.Her father, Altaf Ahmad Rather, had filed a complaint with the police that his daughter had gone missing on June 14.

Police in Kashmir have arrested a man on charge of killing his four-year-old daughter as "he suspected her to be illegitimate".Muskan Altaf was found dead with her throat slit in an orchard in Sopore town on June 15.Her father, Altaf Ahmad Rather, had filed a complaint with the police that his daughter had gone missing on June 14.

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Police say that a special investigation team probing into the case found out that Altaf had choked his daughter to death and later also slit her throat.

He put the body in a jute sac and dumped her in an orchard.The SIT found out that the baby was born in less than nine months of her parents' marriage and her father suspected that she was not his child.

"Over a period of time this developed into an extreme hatred," a statement by the police said.The statement said during investigation suspicion was developed against the father as the girl was last seen in his company. He was called for questioning and asked to explain the circumstances leading to her getting missing and murdered.

"The accused was arrested and circumstantial, scientific evidence corroborate his involvement in murder of his daughter," the police statement said.

"Another motive of killing his own daughter was his greed as he was expecting cash compensation from government assuming that the blame for his daughters murder would be laid on militants as his wife was a panch (village head)."Police said that Altaf had also misled them regarding the dead girl's age and had said she was eight-year-old when she was actually only four.