The Mysuru district police have stumbled upon another case of ‘honour killing’ with the father admitting to murdering his 15-year-old pregnant daughter, who was in a relationship with a distant relative.
This comes barely two months after a 22-year-old girl was killed allegedly by her parents and brother in a village in Nanjangud taluk near here for having a relationship with a boy outside their caste.
Superintendent of Police Abhinav Khare said the victim, Sunitha, died in Nadappanahalli village in K.R. Nagar taluk more than 18 months ago on January 5, 2015.
The police, however, received an anonymous letter a few months ago stating that Sunitha’s death was not suicide as the family claimed, but murder. The police took up the case and during investigation, it turned out that the girl was killed after the family discovered she was six months pregnant and was in a relationship with their relative.
During interrogation, Sunitha’s father Puttaraja Shetty said his daughter was mentally unstable and was having an affair. Sunitha had died after he slapped her during a confrontation. He and his wife, Leelamma, then dragged the body to their field and left it there along with a bottle of pesticide before spreading the word that she had committed suicide.
Later, the body was cremated. After arresting Puttaraja Shetty and Leelamma, the police are trying to ascertain if Sunitha was pregnant. The body was burnt before conducting post-mortem, leaving no evidence of her pregnancy.
The police are also ascertaining whether Sunitha died after she was slapped or whether the family burnt her when she lost consciousness following the blow.
Mandya case
In another case of honour killing in April last in Mandya Rural, a teenager was killed allegedly by her father and uncles for being in love with a Dalit boy.
The girl was strangled at her house in Thimmana Hosuru in the taluk and burnt at a farmland by her father and his relatives to destroy evidence.
The girl was murdered more than 18 months ago for being in a relationship with
her relative
