Nanded (Maharashtra), Jan 27 (IANS) In a suspected case of “honour killing”, a 23-year-old medical student in Maharashtra’s Nanded was allegedly killed by her kin for having a love affair, her body burnt, and buried in an onion field, police said on Friday.
The incident happened on January 22 but came to light only on Thursday after her anxious friends and classmates informed the local police that Shubhangi Jogdand, a BHMS student, was “missing” for several days.
The woman lived with her family in Limbegaon village, around one hour’s drive from the pilgrim centre of Nanded, famed for its Hazur Sahib Gurudwara.
According to Nanded police, after the preliminary investigations based on her friends’ tip-off, the incident was thoroughly confirmed and her father, brother and three other relatives have been arrested.
The probe revealed that she was in love with a boy, reportedly a distant relation, but her family objected as they had already fixed her marriage with another man from the village.
When the man’s family learnt of her affair, they called off the alliance, enraging the Jogdande family.
Unable to bear the social ridicule they faced, Shubhangi’s father, brother, an uncle and cousins abducted her and took her to a farm on Sunday night.
There they allegedly strangled her to death, burnt her body and disposed off some of the remains in a nearby drain and the rest they ploughed in an onion field.
Shockingly, the village, with a population of around 2,000, had no inkling of the ghastly developments in their neighbourhood until Shuhangi’s concerned college friends stepped into the picture.
One of the friends informed the Limbegaon police of their missing classmate (Shubhangi) and the local Police Patil who rushed to the Jogdande home and verified the matter.
“We have arrested five family members. They have been booked for murder, criminal conspiracy and other relevant provisions of the laws,” an official of Nanded police told the media.
Maharashtra Legislative Council Deputy Chairperson Dr Neelam Gorhe of Shiv Sena-UBT, Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule and other women politicians have condemned the incident.
“Such a heinous crime is against humanity. I strongly condemn it,” said Dr. Gorhe.
“This is shocking in the land of Rajmata Jijabai, Savitribai Phule, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar,” said Sule.
–IANS
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