Honour killing case: Man targets daughter, her 1-day-old baby in Jharkhand

In a suspected case of honour killing, a man allegedly killed his minor daughter and her newborn baby, who was one day old, in Jharkhand's Garhwa district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred in Oraiya village under the Meral police station limits. The deceased have been identified as Radhika Kumari (17) and her one-day-old baby.

Officer-in-charge of Meral police station, Vishnukant, said, "This is a case of honour killing. The accused father, identified as Anil Choudhary (45), has been arrested. The accused has confessed to the crime."

The officer said that on October 5, police received information that the minor girl and her baby were missing.

"We started a search for them and detained her father for interrogation. During the interrogation, he said that his daughter Radhika was in a love affair with a man in adjoining Palamu district. Later, she ran away from home and got married to the man against her father's wishes," he said.

The officer further said that about four-five months ago, the deceased's husband was sent to jail under the POCSO Act, but he was later released.

On October 2, the victim gave birth to her baby at Sadar Hospital in Garhwa, and they were later reported missing. "We received a complaint regarding this from the deceased's husband on Monday, in which he suspected that her father had killed them," the police officer said.

On the basis of the complaint, "We arrested the accused father. Then, on the basis of his statement that he had strangled both victims and buried them at a deserted place in the village. We recovered the bodies from that location late on Monday evening," the officer said.

The bodies are being sent for post-mortem examination to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.

An FIR has been lodged at Meral police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and the accused has been sent to judicial custody, he added.