In a horrific incident, a man named Rajpal Singh Tomar murdered his 18-year-old daughter Shivani Tomar and her 21-year-old partner, Radheshyam Tomar, on June 3 in a case of honour killing at Ratanbasai village in Morena, Madhya Pradesh. The dead bodies of Shivani and Radheshyam were then dumped into the Chambal River after being weighed down with heavy stones.
A case has been recorded in the Ambah police station regarding the murders. The incident occurred about two weeks ago when Shivani’s family along with some relatives allegedly shot the duo dead and disposed of their bodies.
Shivani’s family objected to the fact that the two were from the same caste and strongly opposed their relationship. The boy was a native of the neighbouring village of Balupura. When his father filed a report that the pair is missing for several days with the suspicion that he may have been murdered, the police started looking into the complaint and eventually learned about the horrific incident. Meanwhile, Rajpal Singh Tomar, on June 3, lodged a missing complaint at the Ambah police station about his daughter as well.
The young couple was missing since June 3, which prompted the boy’s family to repeatedly accuse the girl’s family of killing them. People linked to the latter were apprehended by police and interrogated in-depth. Rajpal Singh Tomar and a number of female accomplices later admitted that their daughter and Radheshyam Tomar had both been shot dead on June 3 and that their bodies had been dumped in the Chambal River in the dark.
“Sustained probe and questioning of both families finally saw the girl’s father Rajpal Singh Tomar spill the beans about having murdered Shivani and Radheyshyam, after catching them together. Both bodies were subsequently dumped in the Chambal river,” informed Sub-divisional Officer Police (SDOP) in Morena district, Parmal Singh Mehra.
Radheyshyam Tomar’s family claimed that he eloped with the girl last month and that they were later discovered in the state of Uttar Pradesh. They were forewarned by the girl’s father to convince their son to ‘rectify’ his behaviour and find another place to live when he called them on June 1.
According to Morena Superintendent of Police Shailendra Singh Chouhan, divers are being used to locate their bodies in the areas identified by the accused family. “We have not yet discovered anything. The search is on”, the police officer said. After learning of the crime, police sent out a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team and divers to look for the deceased in the river.
Police maintained that unless the bodies are discovered, they cannot conclusively prove the murder. Additionally, police disclosed that there is no proof of the use of guns by the perpetrators. They also proclaimed that due to the likelihood of predation by aquatic animals like fish and crocodiles, it is growing harder to obtain the bodies after 15 days since they were discarded in the river.
