WOMAN KILLED BY FATHER IN HATE CRIME, SAY COPS

AGRA: A 22-year-old woman whose body was found in a suitcase on the Yamuna Expressway last week was allegedly killed by her father in a suspected case of hate crime after she married a man belonging to another caste, Mathura Police said on Monday.

The deceased, a resident of Delhi, was identified as Ayushi Yadav and her parents – Nitish Yadav (46) and Brajbala Yadav (45) – have been arrested.

Ayushi’s body was found on the expressway under Raya police station limits on November 18. Police said they found gunshot wounds on her chest and injury marks on her face.

Mathura senior superintendent of police (SSP) Martand P Singh said Ayushi was allegedly murdered by her father in their residence in Delhi on November 17. Both Nitish and Brajbala dumped the body along the expressway the next day.

According to police, Ayushi got married to 22-year-old Chatrapal, a resident of Bharatpur, who belongs to the Gujjar community, in October 2021.

“The accused father was unhappy with his daughter as she married without his approval. Following an altercation, he shot her twice,” Singh said. He did not say anything about Chatrapal’s whereabouts.

“After the body was found by the police and it remained unclaimed, we deployed 14 teams to establish the woman’s identity. Based on evidence, we interrogated her parents. The conflicting accounts given by the accused duo raised our suspicion and led to their arrest,” he said. “The woman was a thirdyear BCA student. She was pursuing her graduation from an institute in Janakpuri area of Delhi,” he added. A case was lodged against Nitish and Brajbala on Monday under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code and both of them were arrested, Singh said. The ar used to dump the body has also been seized.