Intercaste teen couple found dead in UP's Unnao, 4 family members arrested

Police on Wednesday detained four family members of a girl who was found hanging from a tree, along with a boy, in Unnao over allegations that the two were murdered because they were in a relationship and belonged to different castes.

Also read: Furious over daughter’s inter-caste marriage, 79-year-old attempts to kill wife

The local police initially treated the crime as a suicide pact, officials said, but changed their line of investigation after autopsies found the girl had been strangulated and the boy’s body bore signs of multiple injuries, including a broken neck that was the cause of death.

“ We have registered a case of murder and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against seven people. Those behind the incident will soon be arrested,” Unnao superintendent of police (SP) Siddharth Meena.

According to police officials, all the seven people – all related to the girl – named in the FIR are absconding. Four family members have been detained.

The officials said that the girl’s family opposed the marriage since theirs was an upper caste and the boy belonged to a Scheduled Caste.

The boy was last seen by his family at around 5.30pm on Tuesday, the victim’s relatives said. An hour later, the family learnt he had been assaulted by the girl’s family. “My father and other brothers reported the incident to the police,” one of the brothers of the male victim said.

“My family went to Aseewan police station three times when he did not come home till after midnight,” this person said. “Each time, two cops were sent to our village and they did nothing. At around 6am, the bodies were found hanging in a mango orchard,” he added.

According to the police’s preliminary investigation, the two were in a relationship for the past six years.

Opposing their relationship, the girl’s family lodged an FIR for kidnapping against the boy on March 7 when the two eloped, a police officer familiar with the matter said, seeking anonymity.

Also read: 13 booked for ‘fining’ couple over intercaste marriage

Both were found by the police and the boy was sent to a juvenile home on charges of kidnapping in March. The girl, however, denied being kidnapped by the boy following which the latter was released in May.

On Wednesday, the FIR named the girl’s brothers in a murder case.

SP Meena, who visited the site of crime, said the police were investigating the case and the culprits would be arrested soon.