A caste Hindu girl, who was in love with a Dalit boy, died under mysterious circumstances and was quickly cremated by her family in Timmana Hosur village of Mandya taluk on Sunday.
While the family claims it was it a suicide, the police suspect that it is case of caste-killing, reported The Times of India.
According to newspaper reports, police said that the family had physically tortured 18-year-oldd Monica, a PUC student, who had gone missing on March 31 and was returned to her residence with the help of the Mandya Rural police a day later. She was suspected to have been with a Dalit boy.
Her parents claim that she committed suicide on Saturday midnight.They shifted the body to the farmland for cremation, the police said.
The cremation was conducted at 4 am on Sunday morning. Reaching the cremation spot after the last rights were conducted, cops detained Monica’s parents, Mohan and Bhagya, in spite of relatives and villagers opposing the detention, reported The Hindu.
Villagers claimed that the family had to hurry with the cremation as there was a festival of the village deity was on and it was inauspicious to keep a dead body during that time. They also claimed that the girl had committed suicide.
“Neither Monica's parents nor we committed any wrongdoing. She committed suicide on Saturday night and we took a unanimous decision to cremate the body as it was inauspicious for us to keep it while we were celebrating the village deity's festival,” said a villager.
This is an aggregated report from The Times of India and The Hindu