Garhwa (Jharkhand), May 28 (IANS) A man in Jharkhand’s Garhwa district, who allegedly strangled his 17-year-old daughter to death after she refused to go ahead with a marriage he had arranged, locked the house, and fled, has been arrested, police said on Thursday.

The accused father, identified as Nirmal Singh, was arrested 10 days after the body was recovered, officials said.

Garhwa Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Satyendra Narayan Singh revealed details of the case during a press briefing.

He said that on May 19, police received information about a foul smell emanating from Singh’s house in Parti Kushwani village.

Acting on the input, police reached the spot and broke open the lock of the house in the presence of the victim’s brother, Avinash Kumar Singh. The body of the girl, identified as Aakriti Kumari, was found inside a room.

Following the incident, a case was registered at Ketar police station on the basis of the brother’s statement, and an investigation was launched.

On the instructions of the Superintendent of Police, a special team led by the SDPO was formed to trace the accused.

During the probe, technical evidence and intelligence inputs revealed that the accused had fled to Rajasthan after committing the crime and was planning to return to Garhwa to seek bail.

On Wednesday, May 27, police received information that he was moving via the Kon area of Uttar Pradesh in Sonbhadra district towards Nagar Untari through Kharaundi. A trap was laid near Bajarmerwa, where the accused was intercepted and arrested after a brief chase when he tried to escape after he spotted the police.

During interrogation, the accused confessed to the crime. He told police that he had arranged his daughter’s marriage with a man in Rajasthan, where he worked. However, the girl was unwilling to relocate to Rajasthan and wanted to stay in the village. Angered by her refusal, he strangled her while she was asleep.

After carrying out the murder, the accused locked the house and fled the scene.

–IANS

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