Bihar teen ‘dies by suicide’, father mutilates her body to implicate rivals: Cop

Police said the investigation into the cause of the girl’s death was still open and they are waiting for the final postmortem report to conclude if she was killed or she died by suicide

BETTIAH: A man has been arrested in Bihar’s East Champaran district on charges of mutilating his 18-year-old daughter’s body to frame his rivals after she allegedly died by suicide on December 4, police said on Wednesday.

East Champaran SP Kumar Ashish said the accused, said to be in his late 40s, was a farmer (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The man, said to be in his late 40s, has confessed to having mutilated his daughter’s body with a knife to settle scores with four villagers, said East Champaran superintendent of police Kumar Ashish. To be sure, a confession or disclosure statement of any person made before a police officer is not admissible as evidence in trial a court unless it is backed by other evidence.

Citing the man’s statement, Kumar Ashish said he reportedly caught his daughter with a man recently and rebuked her, following which, she died by suicide on December 4. When he found his daughter dead, the man slit her throat and tore her clothes to indicate sexual assault and left the body in a field.

When her body was spotted on December 5, the teenager’s father filed a first information report in which he accused four villagers of possible sexual assault.

The investigators, however, noted that there were no blood stains near the spot where her body was found, which indicated that she died elsewhere and the body was dumped at the secluded spot where it was found.

The SP said the police requisitioned forensic experts and a dog squad, which helped them collect evidence that pointed fingers at the accused. He initially denied the charge, but has come around to acknowledging his role in manipulating the evidence.

The SP underlined that the case was still under investigation.

A police officer said the investigators are yet to confirm that the 18-year-old died by suicide and believe that it might be possible that she was killed by her family. “We will reach a firm conclusion only after receiving the final postmortem report,” the officer, who asked not to named, said.