India – In a suspected case of honour killing, an unmarried pregnant girl was allegedly murdered by her parents and her body was dumped on the railway tracks in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh.

Police said the young woman was found dead on the railway tracks at Albapur under the limits if Nawabganj police station on October 25. Even as police were trying to ascertain her identity, Kamlesh Kumar Yadav, a Kishundaspur village resident, claimed that it was his daughter’s body. He then lodged a complaint, alleging murder. Based on his complaint, police registered a case under IPC Section 302 (murder) against unidentified persons.

Subsequent inquiries revealed the possible involvement of Kamesh and his wife, identified as Anita Devi, in the murder. They were picked up for interrogation on Friday.

During the interrogation, the couple confessed to having axed their 20-year-old daughter to death after discovering that she was six months pregnant, and she expressed unwillingness to reveal the name of the person who impregnated her.

The now-deceased daughter of the accused couple was unwell, following which, on a doctor’s advice, they got her ultrasound done in Unchahar, Raebareli on October 24. The ultrasound report showed that she was pregnant.

“Taken aback and fearing loss of prestige, they tried to get the foetus aborted but couldn’t get it done. They then returned home and tried to inquire from the girl the name of the child’s father which she refused to reveal.

The duo then took their daughter to the railway tracks in the night near Alapur and murdered her. Then they threw the body on the tracks,” a report by Hindustan Times quoted Nawabganj police station SHO Akhilesh Pratap Singh as saying.

In another incident, a youth allegedly murdered a 17-year-old girl by slitting her throat with a knife on a crowded street in Vizag on Saturday night. The accused, identified as Akhil fled after the attack but was later arrested by the police. He allegedly murdered the teenager after she rejected his advances.