A 10-year-old girl in Gohana town of Sonepat district was strangulated to death by her father because she was not getting along with his new wife.
The victim has been identified as Swati. The accused father Pradeep was arrested along with his wife Paandevi on Tuesday when they were trying to flee their village.
Police said the duo had cooked up a story that Swati died due to drinking insecticide accidentally instead of her cough syrup.
The police said the incident had occurred on July 15, when victims neighbours informed them of the mysterious death. The accused father had lodged his statement claiming death by accident and demanded no action against anyone.
However, when the police sent the body for postmortem, it was found that the victim died due to strangulation and not poisoning.
Police arrested the accused as they were trying to flee. During interrogation, the father revealed he killed her daughter under the influence of his new wife as the two were not getting along.
“The stepmother held the girl while her father strangulated her. Both of them have been booked under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the IPC and arrested,” investigation officer Suresh Kumar said.
The victim’s real mother had divorced her father and a case under section 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of IPC was going on.
{{/usCountry}}The victim’s real mother had divorced her father and a case under section 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of IPC was going on.
{{/usCountry}}Swati’s two siblings were living with their mother while she was living with her father.