A man in Andhra Pradesh allegedly beat his 22-year-old daughter to death after she informed her parents that she wanted to marry her classmate.
The tragic incident took place in Chandarlapadu mandal in Krishna district, just a day after the birthday of the deceased, identified as Chandrika.
The police said that Chandrika was pursuing B. Pharmacy at a private college in the same district and had come home to celebrate her birthday.
Chandrika informed her parents that she wanted to marry her classmate, which infuriated the father, Kotaiah, who wanted her to marry the person of his choice, the police said.
Warning Chandrika against speaking to her classmate, Kotaiah said that he would fix her marriage.
When the accused returned home after some time, he reportedly found Chandrika speaking to her classmate over the phone, following which he attacked her with the handle of an axe.
The woman succumbed to her injuries and was declared brought dead at a local hospital.
Speaking to TNM, a police officer from the Chandarlapadu Police Station said that they rushed to the spot on receiving the information. Chandrika's grandfather then made a representation based on which a case was registered.
While some reports suggested that Kotaiah was also angry as Chandrika's classmate belonged to another community, the police denied that this was a case of ‘honour killing’ as was being reported.
"As per our initial findings, both of them seem to belong to the same community. The accused was unhappy that he could not chose his daughter's bridegroom and this led to the crime. However, we are still investigating all angles," the officer told TNM.
While the accused has been detained, his arrest is yet to be announced officially and is expected to be done soon. The police will also work on getting statements from Chandrika's mother and the boy's family if needed.
The body has been sent for a post-morterm and a case has been registered under Section 302(A) (Punishment for murder) and 201 (Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).