Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) [India], January 16 (HBTV): A case of honour killing has come to light in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district, where a 20-year-old woman was killed by her father and cousin after she expressed her desire for a love marriage, a police officer said on Wednesday.

The incident took place in the Adarsh Nagar locality under the jurisdiction of Gola Ka Mandir police station in the district on Tuesday late evening. The woman, identified as Tanu Gurjar, had an arranged marriage scheduled for January 18 but opposed it, as she wanted to marry the man she loved, the police added.

Family members tried to convince her, but she refused. Agitated by this, her father and cousin shot her dead.

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Krishna Lalchandani, said, "We received information about the incident at around 7 pm on Tuesday. Acting on it, the police reached the spot and learned that the woman had been killed by her father and cousin. In the preliminary investigation, it was revealed that her marriage was scheduled for January 18, but the girl was in a love affair with someone else and wanted to marry him."

The family had fixed her arranged marriage and had called a Panchayat with relatives to convince her. Despite several attempts to make her agree to the arranged marriage, she refused, the officer said, adding that two constables, including a woman constable, were present during the Panchayat.

"Her father felt that if she did not understand, he might face infamy. As a result, her father and cousin took her inside under the pretext of talking and opened fire, killing her on the spot. The police present immediately took the man into custody and recovered the weapon. Later, the police team arrested the cousin as well," the officer said.

Both the accused are in police custody, and the weapon used in the crime has been seized. Further investigation is underway.

Additionally, the ASP mentioned that the family had requested the police constables to speak with the woman privately, citing it as a matter of family honour. The police had planned to rescue the woman, but upon the family’s request, they agreed. The incident occurred in the meantime.

Earlier, the woman had released a video in which she said that she was in love with someone, but her family did not approve of the match. They pressured her to marry someone else and she stated that her family would be responsible if anything happened to her. The police constables were present after receiving the video, the officer added.

(ANI)