Muzaffarpur : An alleged case of honour killing has shocked a village in Bihar after an 18-year-old woman was reportedly strangled by her father, her body incinerated in a furnace used to make earthen pots — all while music from a DJ party blared in the background to muffle her screams.
The murder, which took place on April 24 in Dumri village under Mushahari police jurisdiction, came to light only after a village watchman alerted authorities. The father, Naresh Pandit, was arrested on April 30, and has since been remanded in judicial custody.
Police say Pandit confessed to disposing of his daughter’s body in the furnace but initially claimed she had died by suicide after consuming poison. However, forensic findings and witness statements suggest otherwise.
“The father used loud music to cover up the killing. This was not a panic response, but a premeditated act to silence and erase his daughter,” said Ranjit Gupta, the station in-charge.
The motive, investigators believe, stems from the girl’s relationship with a local boy, which Pandit reportedly disapproved of. A month prior to the murder, the young couple had eloped. They were recovered by police on March 19, and the girl was returned to her family under social pressure.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Manoj Kumar Singh, the victim’s mother confirmed that the girl had continued to communicate with her lover even after returning home — an act that allegedly enraged Pandit. When his wife urged him to notify authorities of their daughter’s death, he instead threatened her and began covering up the crime.
The brutality of the incident has left the village reeling. “The community is shaken. We never imagined something like this could happen here,” said Anil Kumar, the village watchman whose tip-off proved crucial to the investigation.
Authorities have registered an FIR against Pandit for murder and destruction of evidence, and further inquiries are underway.
