Dowry death horror: Woman murdered, buried by father-in-law in front of house in Haryana

Faridabad: A 54-year-old man has been arrested for the alleged murder of his daughter-in-law, whose body he reportedly buried in front of his house nearly two months ago, police said on Saturday.

The accused, Bhoop Singh, a resident of Roshan Nagar in Faridabad, confessed during interrogation to strangling 22-year-old Tannu Kumar and disposing of her body in a pit he had prepared outside his home.

According to police, the murder took place on the night of April 21. At the time, Singh's wife was away attending a wedding in Uttar Pradesh, and his son, Arun Kumar--Tannu’s husband--was at work. Only Bhoop Singh, his daughter Kajal, and Tannu were at home.

“After dinner, his daughter Kajal went to sleep in her ground-floor room, while Tannu retired to the first floor. During the night, Bhoop Singh entered her room and strangled her with a dupatta,” a Faridabad police spokesperson said. “He then placed the body in a pit he had dug earlier and covered it with soil. The next morning, he hired a mason and had the area cemented over.”

The motive behind the killing has not been officially confirmed, though the accused claimed that Tannu had caused discord in the family. Investigators, however, suspect the motive may be dowry-related.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Sarai) Rajesh Kumar stated, “We are still investigating the involvement of other family members. The dowry angle is being looked into.”

Tannu Kumar, originally from Shikohabad in Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad district, married Arun Singh two years ago. Her father, Hakim, has alleged a long history of harassment by her in-laws over dowry demands.

According to Hakim, his daughter spent nearly a year at her parental home due to mistreatment. She only returned to her marital home after a local panchayat intervened. However, the situation remained tense.

Hakim said that when he was informed that his daughter had gone missing, he visited her in-laws’ house and noticed freshly covered soil outside the premises. He claimed he raised the alarm at that time, but the police failed to take his concerns seriously.

The in-laws had initially reported Tannu as missing and alleged she was mentally unstable--a claim strongly denied by her family.

On Friday, acting on new leads, police exhumed Tannu's remains in the presence of Naib Tehsildar Jaswant Singh. A post-mortem examination was conducted at Badshah Khan Civil Hospital, after which the body was handed over to her family.

Police had earlier booked Bhoop Singh, his wife Sonia, son Arun Singh, and daughter Kajal in connection with the case. However, only Bhoop Singh has been arrested so far and has been remanded in police custody for two days.

The investigation is ongoing.