An interfaith couple was brutally murdered, allegedly by the girl’s brothers, in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad in what is suspected to be an 'honour killing'.
The incident took place under Pakbara police station area of Moradabad district in western UP.
The bodies of the couple—a 24-year-old Muslim man and an 18-year-old Hindu woman—were found behind a temple on the outskirts of their village.
Both Kajal Saini and Mohd Arman were residents of Umri Sabzipur village.
After receiving the information, district police, in the presence of a magistrate, exhumed the bodies on Wednesday night and sent them for post-mortem.
The action followed a complaint filed by the boy’s father, after which police registered an FIR against the brothers. Two of the accused were taken into custody.
According to sources, Kajal, a resident of Umri Sabjipur village, was a student who also taught at a private school. She had been in a relationship with Arman for the past two years.
On the night of January 18, Arman went to Kajal’s house to meet her, sources said. Family members allegedly caught the couple together and, angered by the relationship, detained them.
The relatives are accused of killing the couple with spades. To destroy evidence, they allegedly took the bodies out of the village to the banks of the Gagan river near the Neem Karauli Baba temple and buried them in a pit.
Meanwhile, Arman’s family grew worried when he did not return home and approached the local police seeking help to trace him. Sources said the family had been visiting the police station for the past three days and had also filed a complaint, expressing fear of an untoward incident.
However, the cops at the local police station ignored their concerns. Due to this supine attitude of the local police station, the accused got three days to tamper with the evidence.
Ultimately, the deceased boy’s family met Moradabad SSP Satpal Antil, on whose orders action was initiated.
As per the SSP, the boy and the girl knew each other. After a thorough investigation, the police suspected the girl's brothers and took two of them into custody.
During the interrogation, they admitted to the crime, stating that they had murdered their sister and her lover. Both bodies were buried in a field behind the temple, the SSP said.
On Wednesday, teams from the SP Crime office, Pakbara Police, and the police stations of Katghar, Majhola, Mugalpura, and Munda Pandey began excavation along River Gagan.
After several hours, the bodies of Armaan and Kajal were recovered from a pit near the Neem Karauli Baba Temple.
As the recovery became known, people from both communities gathered at the spot. In view of the situation, the CO Civil Lines called in additional police force along with PAC.
The bodies were later sent for post-mortem.