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Meerut teen killed by family for eloping with Dalit partner: Cops
The incident came to light on July 24 when villagers attending the funeral of the girl noticed bruises and strangulation marks on her neck, police said.
A 17-year-old Muslim girl was strangled to death allegedly by her father and her uncle in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh after she eloped with her 19-year-old Dalit boyfriend in a suspected case of hate crime, police said on Saturday, adding that the victim’s body has since been exhumed and six people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
The incident came to light on July 24 when villagers attending the funeral of the girl noticed bruises and strangulation marks on her neck, police said.
The villagers, who later alerted police and the girl’s boyfriend, were told by the family that the girl had died of tuberculosis the previous day, they added.
The 19-year-old man’s family filed a complaint at Baraut police station on July 24, after which the girl’s father and six others were taken into custody.
During questioning, both confessed to the killing, SP Sarur Kumar Rai said, adding that four other relatives were also arrested in connection with the incident.
Police, on Saturday, exhumed the girl’s body and ordered an autopsy, he added.
According to police, the girl, a resident of Padla village in Baghpat, was in a relationship with the Dalit man for the last 18 months. On July 15, the girl had fled to the Una district of Himachal Pradesh, officials said.
A day later, she was traced by the girl’s family and brought back to their village, with the assurance that she would not be tortured.
The man’s family, however, later received information that the girl’s relatives had killed her in the name of saving family honour. On July 23, following her funeral, the boy’s family approached the police.
