E-Paper
Man kills daughter in suspected hate crime, boyfriend dies by suicide
A 20--year-old woman was killed by father for being in an intercaste relationship with a man in Kolar district
A 20-year-old woman was allegedly murdered by her father over her relationship with a man from another caste in Karnataka’s Kolar district, the police said on Wednesday, adding prima facie it appeared to be a case of hate crime.
Following the incident, the police said, her 24-year-old boyfriend allegedly died by suicide.
The deceased were identified as Keerthi, who belonged to an Other Backward Class (OBC) community, her boyfriend, a Dalit — both residents of Bodagurki village in Bangarpet taluk, a police officer said.
A case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the woman’s father, identified as Krishna Murthy, at the Kamasamudra police station.
“Krishna Murthy has been arrested for murder under Section 302 of IPC,” KGF superintendent of police Dharanidevi Malagatthi said. “Further investigation in the case is underway.”
The woman, who was pursuing her graduation, was in a relationship with the 24-year-old man, who worked as a daily-wage labourer, for the past few months. However, her family opposed their relationship citing the man belonged to a Scheduled Caste (SC) community, police said.
The woman’s father had warned them to end their relationship, but the two continued to meet secretly.
“On Tuesday morning, Murthy allegedly strangled his daughter to death at their house and hung her body to a fan to make it appear as suicide,” a senior police officer said, requesting anonymity.
The police claimed that during interrogation, Murthy confessed to having killed his daughter.
Meanwhile, after learning about the woman’s death, the 24-year-old allegedly died by suicide by jumping in front of a moving train, the police said.
A senior officer said that security has been heightened in the village to maintain law-and-order situation.
