The accused, Sudesh Chauhan, in police custody The accused, Sudesh Chauhan, in police custody

In what police suspect to be a case of honour killing, a 41-year-old dairy booth operator has been arrested for allegedly slitting his 13-year-old daughter’s throat with a knife, in northeast Delhi’s Karawal Nagar. The incident came to light late Friday evening — hours after the girl’s body was “discovered” by her father and his friends, more than 10 km from their residence, police said.

Around 5.30-5.45 pm on Wednesday, the Class VII student left her house in Shiv Vihar Colony to buy momos from the market. “Her younger brother would usually accompany her, but on March 7, she went alone. Her father, Sudesh Chauhan, followed her and saw her talking to a boy who lives in the same locality,” said A K Singla, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast).

Police said Chauhan had seen his daughter talking to the boy in the past, too. “In September, the accused had seen his daughter with the boy and had reprimanded her,” said Singla.

Late Wednesday evening, the accused lodged a missing person’s report at Karawal Nagar police station, claiming that his daughter never reached home from the market. Two days later, her body was “found” by her father in Mandola village, more than 10 km from her house, along the Delhi-Saharanpur Road.

It was CCTV footage from the area that helped police nab the accused. “We went through CCTV footage and the girl was seen going alone to the market… Footage from different points later showed the girl travelling with a person on a motorcycle,” said Singla.

On Saturday, Chauhan was arrested and his motorcycle and helmet were recovered. “The girl’s father has a similar motorcycle and helmet. He had also been behaving strangely. After the last rites, the father was questioned at length and he confessed to the crime. He told police that he had caught his daughter with the boy several times. On March 7, he said he followed her and found her with the same boy again. He allegedly took her to Loni and killed her with a knife,” Singla said.

Apart from CCTV footage, certain claims made by the father had raised red flags, police said. The accused had allegedly told police that he and four others had left their house in Shiv Vihar colony around 8 am to look for his daughter.

“A PCR call was made around 9 am. The father said he took around 30-40 minutes to reach that spot from his house. He further claimed that they started looking in the area because his wife’s parents live in Khekra village, which is at least 7-8 km from the spot from where her body was found,” said Brijesh Kumar, Circle Officer, Loni.

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