Ex-boyfriend's family claims Kendrapara woman could have been killed for honour

Kendrapara Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kataria said that forensic medicine and toxicology (FMT) experts visited the woman’s house under Pattamundai (Rural) Police Station area during the day and examined its various places, including the staircase from where her charred body was recovered.

Bhubaneswar/Kendrapara: A day after the body of a 19-year-old female college student of Odisha's Kendrapara was consigned to flames, her ex-boyfriend's family on Friday alleged that she was killed for honour, not due to self-immolation.

Kendrapara Superintendent of Police Siddharth Kataria said the investigators are looking into the matter from all angles, and they are waiting for the postmortem examination report which could shed light on how she died. The woman, who was reportedly a victim of blackmail by her ex-boyfriend, allegedly set herself on fire and died in her house in Kendrapara on Wednesday.

“The postmortem of the woman’s body was conducted at SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack. The autopsy report is expected to reveal the truth behind the death," the SP, who himself has been investigating the matter, told reporters.

The SP said that forensic medicine and toxicology (FMT) experts visited the woman’s house under Pattamundai (Rural) Police Station area during the day and examined its various places, including the staircase from where her charred body was recovered.

The deceased’s father, in a written complaint to the police, had said he found his daughter’s charred body on the staircase after breaking the main gate.

The woman, a third-year undergraduate student, died by suicide under mental stress after being blackmailed by her ex-boyfriend, the father alleged while talking to reporters.

However, in his written complaint, he did not mention anything about the ex-boyfriend or blackmail.

“Yes, my son was in love with the woman who died. They were in a relationship which her father was opposed to. My son did not upload her photos on social media as claimed by her father. We doubt that the woman’s death could be a case of honour killing by her family,” the ex-boyfriend’s mother told local television channels.

His sister challenged her family to provide evidence that her brother posted any video or photo of her on social media, as alleged.

The ex-boyfriend has been employed in Chennai.

The SP also rejected reports in a section of the media that the ex-boyfriend was arrested in the southern city.

“I do not confirm this news. I am personally supervising the case. The police have neither detained nor arrested anyone in this case,” the SP said.