Three members of a family have been arrested on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old girl, Priya.
The incident occurred on Sunday night on the family's farm in the girl’s native village, Tamtampalli. Gownipalli police have registered a case of murder. Priya’s father Byra Reddy, her mother and brother have been arrested.
According to the police, Priya, a first PU student, was in love with a boy from another caste for the past year. There was tension in the girl’s family for over a month, as they kept asking her to leave the boy because he belonged to a Scheduled Caste community. However, the girl said that she was not ready to change her mind.
Kolar Superintendent of Police, Divya Gopinath, who visited the murder spot said, “The family lived in Kolar town area. On Sunday her parents told her that they were going to Tirupathi. But on the way they took a detour and took her to their farmhouse instead. When Priya refused to listen to her parents, Byra strangulated the girl with a rope.”
The incident came to light when the villagers confronted the family late in the night on hearing the girl's screams.
“The villagers there seem to have heard the screams and other noises coming from the farm. By the time they got there Byra had murdered his daughter. But when he was getting out he was confronted by them and he blurted out what he had done. One of the villagers informed the police in the night. While Byra was arrested immediately, the mother and brother, who managed to escape, were arrested later. This is the first honour killing that has come to light,” said Divya.
Kripa Alva, chairperson of Child Welfare Commission said that they were not aware of the case, but would look into it after getting more details.
Karnataka has witnessed at least three cases of honour killing during the year. In April, a girl was murdered in Mysuru district for falling in love with a boy from another community.
Quoting figures from the State Crime Records Bureau, The Hindu reported that there have been 10 suspected honour killings in Karnataka since 2011.