Pratibha Khan, an Indian teenage girl has been stoned to death and had her face ‘smashed beyond recognition’ by her father and brother after caught dating a boy from a neighboring village.
The remains of the 19 year old teen would be found by friends in the fields near her home in India’s northern Uttar Pradesh state.
Investigators say she was dragged there by father Jagpal, 65, and oldest brother Pradeep, 36, who were angry she was dating a boy from a nearby village, before being attacked.
Officers believe the girl was beaten with bricks and stones before being strangled to death, and that more injuries were inflicted after she had died in an attempt to hide her identity.
Told Alia Modi, 18, a friend of the victim: ‘I was walking home through the fields when I saw a body lying on the ground.
‘It was covered in blood and when I looked at the face it was so badly damaged I didn’t recognise it as Pratibha’s. It was only later that I learnt who it was and I was simply horrified.’
Reiterated a police spokesman: ‘The post-mortem report showed that while the cause of death was strangulation, it appeared that she had been repeatedly struck by bricks and stones.
‘Perhaps to hide her identity, some of the blunt force injuries to her face were made after her death, but most weren’t.’
‘It looks like the brother and father dragged her to the fields and assaulted her with bricks and stones. They then strangled her and went on to smash her face beyond recognition.’
Adding: ‘An analysis of her mobile phone records pointed to the involvement of her family members, in particular the brother and father.
‘Initially, her brother Pradeep was questioned and claimed she was killed by her lover.
‘It was only later when we interrogated Pradeep and his father Jagpal separately that we were able to find inconsistencies in their statements.
‘Eventually they admitted that they had killed her because she was in love with another boy from a nearby village.’
One of the girl’s other brothers Prabhat, 33, would add: ‘I am neither sorry nor surprised that my sister is dead. If what people say is true, then I am not surprised that my father and brother killed her.’
The father and brother have since been charged with the teen’s murder.
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