In an apparent case of honour killing, a man allegedly killed her daughter in Karnataka's Kalaburagi district for being in a relationship with a man from a different case. The incident took place in the Melakunda village on Thursday when the deceased, identified as Kavitha Kollur, was strangled to death by her father.
The accused father has been identified as Shankar Kollur.
Father strangles daughter to death
According to the police, 18-year-old Kavitha was in a relationship with an auto driver from the same village. After discovering about her relationship, Shankar scolded Kavitha, but the latter refused to end her relationship. Following this, Shankar and his family started harassing Kavitha and strangled her to death on Thursday.
"The man had opposed her relationship, as he has five daughters. He feared that an inter-caste marriage would affect the marriage prospects of his other three daughters," said Kalaburagi Police Commissioner Sharanappa SD.
Murder staged as suicide
To avoid suspicion, Shankar poured pesticides on Kavitha's body and staged the murder as a suicide. Later, Kavitha was cremated after Shankar circulated a rumour that she had died by suicide. But the police received information from an unidentified man that Kavitha had been murdered.
Upon investigating the case, the local police found that Shankar had killed her daughter and staged it like a suicide. "The jurisdictional police received information that an 18-year-old girl died by suicide and her last rites were performed, but there were suspicions about the case," Sharanappa said.
"Shankar strangled her and poured pesticide into her mouth to make it appear as a suicide. Villagers believed it and participated in the last rites," he added.
Father arrested, two others absconding
Shankar was later arrested by the police, who confessed to the crime. The police suspect two more people are involved in Kavitha's killing, and a hunt is on to nab them. A case has also been registered, and the forensic team has collected the evidence.
"We suspect the involvement of two more people, who are Shankar’s relatives. Investigations are ongoing, and if found guilty, they will be arrested as well," Sharanappa said.
