Delhi woman strangled, set afire by parents

In an apparent case of honour killing, a 21-year-old Delhi University student was strangled by her parents, who later set her body on fire, just three days after her marriage to her friend against the wishes of her family, police said Wednesday.

The accused were arrested Tuesday and sent to judicial custody by a Delhi court.
Bhavna Yadav was killed on the intervening night of Nov 15-16 by her 45-year-old father Jagmohan Yadav and 40-year-old mother Savitri Yadav at her house in west Delhi's Dwarka North area.

After killing their daughter, the parents took her body to their village in Alwar, Rajasthan where they set it on fire, police said.

The young woman had married 24-year-old Abhishekh Seth Nov 12 against the wishes of her family members.

Police said that they started probe into the case after Abhishek, an assistant programmer in Rashtrapati Bhavan for last four years, made a written complaint Nov 16 at Dwarka North police station suspecting foul play with his wife.

In his complaint, Abhishek had expressed suspicion of a foul play as Bhavna did not contact him after their marriage. He informed that Bhavna and her family members suddenly left their house without giving him any information, a police officer said.

He said that they contacted victim's parents at their village in Alwar and took them in custody when they failed to give information about their daughter.

"While questioning they broke down and admitted that they had strangled their daughter at their Delhi home," said the officer.

The parents told the police that they called her back to their home when she informed them Nov 12 about her marriage with Abhishek.

The accused, police said, had assured the victim to organise her marriage with Abhishek in a proper manner, but killed her when she came back to their home.

"The accused have been charged with murder, but we are investigating if it is a case of honour killing," Deputy Commissioner of Police Suman Goyal told IANS.

The victim, a final year Sanskrit honors student of Venkateswara College, fell in love with Abhishek, a resident of Uttam Nagar in west Delhi, a few years ago.

Bhavna wanted to marry Abhishekh but her family was always against it because the boy belonged to different caste, an investigating officer said, adding prima facie it is a clear case of "honour killing".