New Delhi: A couple and their one-year-old daughter were shot dead in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district Tuesday evening, allegedly by the woman’s brother who was aided in the act by his father. The police Wednesday arrested the father-son duo, Pappu Singh and Dhiraj Kumar, respectively.
Police sources told ThePrint that the couple, 35-year-old Chandan Kumar and 30-year-old Chandni Kumari, and their child were allegedly shot by Chandni’s brother, after her father “attacked all three of them with a rod” in Nawtolia village of the district’s Naugachhia town.
According to police officers, the couple were from the same caste but had eloped and got married against their family’s wishes in 2021. Chandan’s family, police officers said, accepted the marriage over time but Chandni’s family was “extremely embarrassed” as the married couple resided near her father’s house in the village.
“Chandni’s father had frequent abusive outbursts against Chandan whenever they saw each other,” a police officer told ThePrint, adding that both families are involved in labour work.
Chandan’s elder brother Kedarnath Singh complained to the police and an FIR was registered Tuesday under Section 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 341 (wrongful restraint), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
ThePrint has seen a copy of the FIR in which Singh alleged that Chandni’s family was threatening the couple to leave the village since they married and returned in 2021. The accused, Pappu Singh, allegedly openly declared intentions to kill them in the first instance, it added.
Singh told ThePrint over call that the couple was attacked some 100 m away from their old house at around 4.20 p.m. and by the time he could run to save him, all three of them had lost their lives.
He told ThePrint that he has also lodged a complaint with the police that Pappu Singh attacked with an iron rod and then his son Dhiraj appeared with a pistol and pumped bullets and left all three dead on the street.
Naugachhia Superintendent of Police (SP) Sushant Kumar Saroj told ThePrint that on Tuesday, Chandan along with his wife and child, was going to his other house in the same village when they were spotted by his father-in-law, who was employed at a construction site located midway between the two houses.
According to the police, it appears from the probe so far that Pappu lost his temper on seeing the couple and attacked them.
“The father lost his temper and attacked the three of them with a rod present at the site and then called his son, who came with a gun and shot them all to death,” the police officer mentioned earlier told ThePrint.
SP Saroj added that Pappu and Dhiraj will be produced in a court Friday and the police will attempt to file a chargesheet in a month to ensure speedy trial in the case.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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