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Petition in Gujarat HC uncovers ‘murder’ of man's partner by her father, uncle
In May, the couple eloped to Ahmedabad, signed live-in pact, and toured MP, Rajasthan. Caught on June 12, she was sent to her uncle; he later moved Gujarat HC.
A habeas corpus petition filed in the Gujarat high court last month by an 18-year-old woman’s live-in partner led to the revelation of her ‘murder’ by her father and uncle, after she was found dead just days before the hearing, news agency PTI reported.
Police in Banaskantha district said the accused tried to portray her death as ‘suicide’. According to the FIR registered on Wednesday, Haresh Chaudhary, who is already married and has a son, fell in love with the woman after giving her a lift till Palanpur from Tharad town. Assistant superintendent of police Suman Nala said, “It is not yet clear if Chaudhary had told the woman about his marital status.”
Her uncle, Shivrambhai Patel, has been arrested, while efforts are on to nab her father, Sendhabhi Patel, police said.
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When was the habeas corpus filed?
Acting on a complaint by her live-in partner Haresh Chaudhary, police on Wednesday lodged an FIR and booked the woman's father, Sendhabhi Patel, and uncle, Shivrambhai Patel, for the murder, officer Suman Nala said.
“The girl was in love with Chaudhary. The two had also signed a live-in agreement, which was not acceptable to Sendhabhi and his brother. Thus, both of them strangled her after rendering her unconscious on June 24. They performed her last rites without informing police,” PTI quoted Nala as saying.
Banaskantha superintendent of police Akshayraj Makwana had last week ordered an inquiry into the woman’s death after Chaudhary, a resident of Vadgamda village in Tharad taluka, alleged in an application that she may have been killed by her relatives, who opposed their relationship and intended to marry her off to someone else.
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What happened after she travelled to Ahmedabad
In May, the couple eloped to Ahmedabad, where they formalised their live-in relationship through an agreement before travelling to Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
On June 12, Tharad police officers, accompanied by one of the woman's relatives, traced them to a hotel in Rajasthan. The girl was handed over to her uncle, while Chaudhary was taken into custody in connection with an old case under the Prohibition Act in Bhachau, Kutch district.
Upon his release from prison on June 21, Chaudhary saw that the woman had sent him two Instagram messages on June 17, expressing fear that her family might kill her or force her into marriage with someone else. Chaudhary said he was unable to see the messages at the time as he was incarcerated.
He then contacted his solicitor, who filed a habeas corpus petition in the Gujarat high court, requesting that the woman be presented before the court.
However, on June 25– just two days before the hearing – Chaudhary learnt that she had died on the night of June 24, and that her last rites had been conducted the following morning.
Police investigations later revealed, according to the FIR, that the woman's father and uncle resolved to kill her, fearing she might again elope with the complainant.
"When the girl was at Shivrambhai's house at Dantiya village in Tharad on the night of June 24, she was offered milk containing sleeping pills. When she fell unconscious, the duo strangled her and performed her last rites the next morning to hide their crime," said Nala.
