Honour killing cloud over Valentine's Day death

Falguni Banerjee | TNN | Feb 15, 2017, RISHRA: A Rishra girl had to pay the price for making a phone call to her lover on the Valentine's Day eve with her life in Rishra on Tuesday. Prima facie, police believe she was shot dead by her brother, who went missing after the murder. They are not leaving out possibilities of honour killing or a fallout of a property dispute.

Around 1.30am on Tuesday, Srikrishnanagar residents woke up to the sound of a gunshot. Alarmed, 60-year-old Umesh Singh came out of his room and found her daughter Nitu lying on the ground. She was rushed to Serampore Walsh Hospital but couldn't be saved. A bullet had pierced her skull. The neighbours then realized Nitu's brother Amit was missing.

Neighbours said Nitu was not in good terms with Amit since she was having an affair with an Army man with a 'Tewari' surname. The siblings had a hot exchange of words over the affair on Monday night. Amit, owner of an electrical equipment shop at Ezra Street, was not taking the affair lightly. Hailing from an orthodox Rajput family, Amit was also putting pressure on his father to partition the property in case he couldn't discipline Nitu.

Police have initiated a murder case following the father's complaint against unknown miscreants. Local councillor Chandramuni Singh said: "I know the family since long. I can't believe Amit has done this. We are looking for Amit," said Serampore SP Sukesh Jain.