BERHAMPUR: Nayagarh police on Tuesday arrested three persons including an elderly man in connection with the suspected honour killing of a 17-year-old girl at Sorada village in Nuagaon a few days back.
The accused are Bikash Nayak (32), Chinmaya Nayak (26) and Patitapaban Pradhan (68), all relatives of the victim. The girl’s father Bipra Nayak is absconding.
Police said Bipra’s daughter was in love with a relative’s son. Despite repeated warnings, she continued her relationship with the boy. On November 10, Bipra and other family members beat her mercilessly, causing her death. In a bid to cover up their crime, they took the minor’s body in a car to Jankakorada forest at Phiringia in Kandhamal district and buried it.
Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Nayagarh Snehashis Sahoo said after getting credible information that the girl was murdered, police exhumed her body from a forest area in Phiringia. Basing on the report of sub-inspector Purusottam Pradhan, a case was registered under sections 120B, 201 and 302 of the IPC in Nuagaon police station.
During the investigation, the three accused, the girl’s uncle and two cousins, were interrogated. The trio led the police to the forest where the deceased’s body was buried. The body was exhumed in presence of an executive magistrate and sent for postmortem. The SDPO said Bipra is on the run and efforts are underway to nab him. The autopsy report is awaited to ascertain the exact cause of the girl’s death.