A 17-year-old girl believed to have committed suicide was actually murdered by her mother over a shared love interest, police investigations have revealed in Punjab's Abohar town.

Police arrested Panjpeer resident Manju and her lover Vijay Kumar alias Sonu for the murder of her daughter Diksha and for attempting to hoodwink them into believing it was a suicide, said SP(D) Narender Pal Singh.

HOW THEY SWAYED THE POLICE

1. On May 24, Manju informed the police that her daughter had committed suicide. When they reached the spot, cops found Diksha hanging from a fan.

2. Manju told cops her daughter killed herself because their relatives refused to give them a share in their property after the father's death.

3. The word 'Vijay' was engraved on Diksha's wrist - possibly by a pointed object - and police even found a suicide note on the spot.

4. Based on Manju's statement, police filed a case against her in-laws and started its investigation.

WHAT THEY FOUND

1. Manju and Vijay met on Facebook in October 2015, while he was in Saudi Arabia. Friendship turned into love, and Vijay returned to India in December.

2. The two started living together from January this year at Manju's home in Abohar. Soon, Vijay developed a relationship with her 17-year-old daughter Diksha too.

3. Diksha remained unaware of Vijay's relationship with her mother, until she saw them in bed one night. This led to confrontation between the mother and daughter since both wanted to marry the guy.

4. To "prove" her love for Vijay, Diksha engraved his name on her wrist with a pointed object. Seeing this, Manju lost her temper and strangled her daughter to death.

5. To cover up the crime and save himself, Vijay wrote a suicide note blaming familial issues for the suicide.