The couple were identified as Bharatlal Verma and his wife Sunita. (Representative photo)
A head constable and his wife were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly murdering their 24-year-old daughter who had married against their wishes, in Hamirpur’s Kotwali police station area. Police are also on the lookout for their son who is absconding.
The couple were identified as Bharatlal Verma (50) and his wife Sunita (45).
On February 10, Verma had rushed his daughter Tanupriya to a hospital, claiming he had found her hanging in their house. She was declared “brought dead”.
“Bharatlal had then told the doctors at Sadar community health centre (CHC) and the police that his daughter had committed suicide by hanging,” said Circle officer (CO) of Sadar area, Rajnish Upadhyay.
“He also had claimed that she had left a suicide note, but did not produce it before the police. While the body was then sent for autopsy, the head constable left for Chitrakoot district where he is posted at the office of the circle officer of Mau area. The autopsy report stated that strangulation was the cause of death,” Upadhyay said.
Kotwali police station house officer Shail Kumar Singh said, “Verma’s daughter had married a man named Jitendra Dhuriya on January 22, 2017 and was living with him. About a week later, Verma and his wife managed to bring her back convincing her that they would solemnise their marriage. However, they never allowed her to go back and had even thrashed Jitendra in March last year after calling him home. He is staying in Kanpur since.”
“Since Verma, his wife and their son Naveen (22) were the only ones in the house when the girl died, they became key suspects in the case. We questioned Verma and his wife but they denied the girl was murdered and claimed that the autopsy report was wrong. They had even denied she was married,” said CO.
The CO said they arrested the couple based on circumstantial evidence.
“In our primary investigation, we have suspect that Verma and his wife had started forcing their daughter to marry a person of their choice, but she refused. We suspect that they killed the girl over the issue,” Singh said.
He said that Verma belonged to Dalit community while Jitendra Dhuriya is an OBC.
For all the latest Lucknow News, download Indian Express App
Get assembly election result LIVE updates from each constituency in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya
