Man kills pregnant daughter for 'honour'

Balangir: In a case of suspected honour killing, a young woman was killed by her father at Samalai village under Patnagarh block last night allegedly for marrying outside the caste.

A complaint was lodged in this regard at the Railway police station by the grandmother of the deceased, identified as Geeta Tanla, alleging that Kailash Tanla strangulated his daughter for having an affair with a person of different caste.

Mem Tanla, grandmother of deceased, said, “Kailash strangulated Geeta with her scarf. When Kailash was strangulating Geeta, I pleaded with him to forgive her. However, he did not listen to me. Seeing this brutal act, I fell unconscious.”

Mem added, “Kailash called me up and said he would marry Geeta off and send her to a different place and everything will be all right. He reached Phatamunda village where I had hid Geeta. In the evening, Kailash brought us in a rented vehicle near to a place near the Balangir station and killed her.”

Notably, the young woman had come back home after living with a person of different caste for some time. She was four months pregnant when she died.

Kamalnath Khalko, Inspector in-charge, GRP, Balangir, said, “Geeta, daughter of Kailash, was working at a poultry farm in Vijayawada where the girl fell in love with Naresh Tandi of Shardhapur. Subsequently, Geeta became pregnant after which Naresh brought the girl to his home where his family members did not accept the relationship. Following this, Gita's grandmother took her to Phatamunda village under Tarabha police limits as the father of the girl said he would murder his daughter. However, somehow the accused got hint of Geeta and took her near the station and murdered her.”

Khalko added, “Kailash is absconding and the police have launched a manhunt to arrest the accused.”