Haryana: Woman claimed to be ‘missing’ found dead in pit; father-in-law held

Nearly two months after she was allegedly murdered and buried by her father-in-law, the body of a 24-year-old woman was found in a pit in front of her home adjoining her marital home in Faridabad, Haryana.

The deceased, identified as Tanu Singh, who hailed from the Firozabad district in Uttar Pradesh, had been married to Arun Singh, a resident of Roshan Nagar in Faridabad, for nearly two years.

Father-in-law's 'confession'

According to the police, following the recovery of her body early on Friday (June 20) from a 10-foot-deep pit on a public lane near her marital home, which was recently covered with a concrete slab, her father-in-law, Bhoop Singh, confessed during interrogation that he strangled Tanu on the intervening night between April 21 and 22.

Then he allegedly disposed of her body in a pit adjoining his house that was originally dug for drainage.

Their neighbours on April 23 saw an earthmover arriving outside the house, and the pit was allegedly dug by Arun Singh and Bhoop Singh, who claimed that it was for drainage purposes. Two days after the pit was dug, Bhoop Singh lodged a missing complaint for Tanu and kept claiming for weeks that she had gone to the market.

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Sister suspects foul play

But his luck ran out when Tanu’s sister suspected foul play after receiving no response from her over the phone despite repeated attempts. Alleging that Tanu was being harassed by her in-laws over dowry soon after her marriage, Preeti said her sister returned to her maternal home and stayed there for over a year.

Preeti further alleged that when Tanu was sent back to her marital home, her in-laws again started torturing her and did not even allow her to speak to her family over the phone.

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Other family members' role probed

Following Bhoop Singh’s confession, police are also looking into the potential roles of other family members in the case. The investigators are suspecting that the murder was related to dowry, said ACP Rajesh Kumar Lochan, adding further investigation is required.

He further revealed that Bhoop Sigh’s daughter Kajal and other family members were present in the house at the time of the alleged murder, adding that it is being investigated whether they had any prior information about the crime.

Police said Tanu's body has been sent for a post-mortem to determine the exact time and cause of death. They also said that four members of the Singh family — Bhoop Singh, his wife Sonia, son Arun, and daughter Kajal — have been mentioned in the FIR.