MUZAFFARNAGAR: An eight-month pregnant woman was strangled to death by her parents before her appearance at a court here in Uttar Pradesh to testify in a kidnapping and rape case, police said on Sunday.
The 19-year-old woman, police suspect, was killed as she had refused to give a statement before the court against her alleged partner in the case, registered on a complaint by her parents.
She and her partner had eloped in October 2022, and after she was traced in December that year, he was arrested and sent to jail, according to police.
Police said the 19-year-old's parents have been arrested.
She was strangulated on Friday night and her body was dumped in a river at Goyla village under the Shahpur police station area, they said.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjeev Suman told reporters that the woman's parents were arrested under Indian Penal Code section 302 (murder). He claimed that the parents have confessed to the crime.
The woman had to record her statement in the case on Saturday but she did not to appear, the officer said.
"The woman's parents wanted her to testify against Rahul in court. But she refused to do so.This angered her parents, who killed her," the SP said.