AGRA: An 18-year-old pregnant teenager was allegedly forced to choose between death and disgrace before being drowned in the Chambal river by her father and brother-in-law in a suspected case of honour killing in Agra’s Basauni village, police said.Police claimed that the accused first asked the four-month-pregnant teenager to jump into the river herself. When she refused, they allegedly overpowered her and drowned her. Her body has since been recovered.The accused allegedly fabricated a suicide story and even showed photographs of a mock cremation to cover up the crime and mislead investigators.According to police, the victim, Khushi, lived with her family in Delhi’s Tigri area, though they originally hailed from Basauni village in Agra. Her family came to know about her pregnancy around a month ago. Investigators said the teenager was in a relationship with a local minor.Police alleged that the victim’s father, 52-year-old Lakhpat Singh Baghel, along with her brother-in-law, brought her from Delhi to their native village on July 28 on the pretext of arranging a medical termination of her pregnancy. After staying overnight at a relative’s house, the trio went to a ghat on the Chambal river the following morning.Police said the accused first asked Khushi to jump into the river, but she refused. They then allegedly forced her into the water and drowned her.Delhi Police registered a case under Sections 103(1) (murder) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on July 31. During interrogation, the father allegedly confessed to the crime, telling investigators that he acted out of fear of social stigma after news of his daughter’s pregnancy spread in the locality, police said. The brother-in-law was subsequently arrested.
