Assam woman axes father who tried to rape her, buries him in backyard pit

A 25-year-old woman allegedly killed her father while he was trying to rape her at their residence in Assam’s Biswanath district earlier this year, police said on Thursday.

The decomposed body of the 71-year-old man was recovered from a 15-foot-deep pit in their backyard on Tuesday. Police have arrested the woman and four of her family members in connection with the incident.

Police said the deceased allegedly tried to rape his daughter on March 3, culminating in a brawl that led to his death. While the woman was charged with murder, the other four – including her mother – were booked for concealing evidence.

The matter came to light when the family lodged a missing complaint with the Biswanath Chariali police on May 11. “The statements they provided during questioning did not corroborate,” said district superintendent of police Diganta Kumar Chaudhary.

Further investigation revealed that the family had recently dug a pit in the backyard of their residence. When confronted again, the woman confessed to the crime.

“According to the woman’s statement, the man tried to rape her around 11 pm that night. When she resisted, he pulled out an axe. But she overpowered him and killed him with the same weapon,” a police officer said.

The woman’s mother and elder brother then helped her hide the body in another room of the house. Two more sisters joined them the next morning, the police officer said.

“The family members kept the body concealed in plastic bags for the three days it took to dig the pit. They finally buried it on March 7,” the police officer said.

Family members claimed in an interrogation that the deceased used to sexually abuse his daughter, an MA student at a local college, on a regular basis. “But we are also looking at the case from other angles, including possible property-related disputes,” the police officer said.