New Delhi, Apr 4: The mother of a 19-year-old woman, who was smothered to death allegedly by her family over her relationship with a cousin, was arrested on Saturday, police said.
The postmortem report revealed the cause of death was smothering, police said, adding that the victim’s brother allegedly held her hands, and the mother and father suffocated her to death using a pillow.
The victim’s mother, Rabiya Khatun, was arrested a day after her father, Mohammad Maneer (55) and her brother Meraj Ali (19) were arrested, they said.
The incident came to light on April 1 after a PCR call was received around 2 pm alleging that a woman had been killed by her family and her body was being taken for her last rites, police said.
“The family members saw her with a man. She was beaten up and even confined in the house for some days,” a source said.
When the police team reached the spot, they found that the body was being taken for burial. Acting on suspicion of honour killing, the burial process was stopped, and the body was taken into possession, an officer said.
The victim had been in a relationship with a man for the past two years, which was opposed by her family, including her father, brother and mother, the officer added.
“When the girl did not end the relationship despite objections, the family killed her,” the officer said.
Police said that the man who made the PCR call informed them that the woman was in a relationship with her cousin. During the inquiry, it emerged that a friend of the deceased had alerted him about the situation, prompting him to inform the police control room.
Further investigation is underway, police added.
