17-year-old girl dies in Panipat village, cops suspect honour killing

In a suspected case of honour killing, a 17-year-old girl was found dead at Joshi village in Madlauda block of Panipat district. The family members of the girl cremated her body early morning on Friday before the police could reach the spot.

The matter came to light when an unidentified person suspecting honour killing of the girl informed the police about the incident.

The sources in the police said that the girl had recently eloped with a boy of Kandla village of Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh but her family members had found them three days ago. However, the family members have told the police that she died due to electric shock on Thursday night.

Talking to the HT, Panipat deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Bali Singh said, “The police had got a tip-off about a suspected honour killing of a girl but when the police reached the village, the family members had already cremated the body. The forensic science laboratory (FSL) team took bone samples from the funeral ashes at the cremation ground and has sent them for examination.”

He said that the possibility of honour killing cannot be ruled out though the actual cause of death could be ascertained after the FSL report.

Meanwhile, the police have already booked the father of the girl, Suresh Kumar and her uncle, Sham Lal, under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and they have already been taken into custody.