Man kills 15-year-old daughter over interfaith relationship in Karnataka hate crime

Police in Ballari district have arrested a 48-year-old man for allegedly murdering his 15-year-old daughter over her interfaith relationship with a man, a senior officer said on Wednesday

Police in Ballari district have arrested a 48-year-old man for allegedly murdering his 15-year-old daughter over her interfaith relationship with a man, a senior officer said on Wednesday.

Police presented Gowda before a local court on Tuesday which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody (FILE)

The hate crime was committed on October 31 in Siddaramanahalli under Kudathini police station area, said inspector Tarabai.

Police identified the accused as Omkara Gowda. According to an officer privy to the investigation, Gowda’s daughter was in a relationship with a Muslim man. The family didn’t approve of the relationship, but the daughter remain adamant, said the officer, asking not to be named.

The officer said Gowda killed the girl after taking her out under the pretext of watching a film. “He took her for a movie. As it had started, they couldn’t enter the theatre. So, he bought her a gold chain and earrings. Later, the both of them had dinner. While returning home, he stopped his motorcycle near the Tungabhadra canal and asked his daughter to get off. He took her to the canal and pushed her head inside the water, killing her,” said the officer.

Inspector Tarabai said that after committing the murder, his wife lodged a missing persons complaint for his daughter on November 1.

“After getting the complaint, we conducted a probe in and around the village. We got some leads and we also found that the girl was last seen with her father. We took him into custody for questioning and during interrogation, he confessed to the crime,” said Tarabai.

Police presented Gowda before a local court on Tuesday which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody.

In September, a 22-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl were allegedly murdered by her family members over their inter-caste relationship in the same district. Three family members of the girl were arrested in connection with the case while a search is on for four others, including her father.

In a similar case, three relatives of a 17-year-old girl were booked in connection with the alleged murder of a 19-year-old man over an inter-caste relationship in Karnataka’s Vijayapura district. The man, who belonged to an oppressed caste, was killed minutes after the 17-year-old girl appeared to have died by suicide on September 24, after her family spotted them together.