MORADABAD: A 17-year-old boy was allegedly murdered by a 15-year-old girl’s family after the two teenagers were “caught in a compromising position” at the girl’s house in Moradabad ’s Bhartal village on Monday. The girl was found lying unconscious outside the room where the boy was hanged, when the police reached the scene and rushed both victims to hospital. The boy, Rakesh Singh, has died and the condition of the girl, Sushma, is very critical, police said.

A search operation is on to find the girl’s father, Makhan Singh, her four brothers and her sister-in-law, who went missing after the crime was reported. An FIR has been registered against them, police said and the homes of their relatives have been raided. But no arrests have been made so far.

“The teenagers were in love and were caught together inside a room before Makhan Singh along with his sons Sukhveer, Sunil, Sushil and Umaid and daughter-in-law Rinki hanged Rakesh,” SP Rural, Prabal Partap Singh, told TOI. “No sign of violence was seen on the dead body except one lacerated wound on the neck of the deceased.”

Asked if it was a case of honour killing, the SP said the police were waiting for a statement to come from Sushma, who happens to be the lone eyewitness at the crime scene, and is battling for her life at the Moradabad district hospital.

But Rakesh’s father, Mohor Singh, had no doubts over why his son was killed. “After they found their daughter with my son in an objectionable condition, they beat him with iron rods and hanged him to safeguard their family’s honour,” he alleged.

The locals said that Rakesh and Sushma loved each other. “On Monday morning, most men in the village had gone to work in the fields. We got alarmed when we heard cries for help coming from Makhan Singh’s house. When we entered the house, we found Rakesh hanging inside a room and Sushma lying outside,” a local, who did not want to disclose his identity, told TOI.

Circle Officer R P Singh said the incident took place at 8.30 in the morning. “The Hazrat Nagar Gadi police received a telephone call from the village and reached the spot shortly thereafter. But the culprits had absconded by then,” he added.

Police have sent the dead body for autopsy and raided the homes of several relatives of the accused but with no success.

