Photo: NDTV
Her father tried to pass her murder off as a suicide.
By Emily Blackwood — Written on Sep 23, 2017
A 13-year-old girl recently became one of the youngest victims of Telangana, India's tragic honor killings.
According to police, a girl named Radhika was strangled on Sept. 15 and had her head bashed on a wall by her father, Narasimha.
He then set her body on fire and tried to tell police her death was a suicide.
However, police didn't buy it. They said that typically in the cases of fire accidents or self-immolation, the person runs around as a reflex and ends up setting other items near them on fire. But Radhika's half-burnt body was found in one place.
"We suspected that she had been killed first and then the body was set on fire,'' said local police officer Bali Gangareddy. An autopsy report confirmed that she had been murdered.
Her father reportedly attacked her after he saw her chatting with a male classmate after school. When she got home, he accused her of being "friendly with boys," and giving the family a bad name.
It was then that he started beating her in a fit of rage.
And her father didn't act alone. The girl's mother, Lingamma, helped Narasimha douse their daughter's body with kerosene and set her on fire. It was the neighbors who called the police.
Both of Radhika's parents have been arrested and are in custody for the 'honour killing'. During the investigation, the father confessed to the murder.
"She was only a bright upper primary student," the investigating officer said. "The father's suspicion that his daughter was engaged in dishonorable acts and his rage, led to the murder."
Honor killings, or shame killings, are homicides that occur when a member of a family is killed because it's believed that they violated the principles of a community or a religion. Usually, the crimes they think the members committed are sexual in nature.
It's not known how common honor killings are, but the most frequently quoted figure published by the United Nations in 2000 is an estimate of 5,000 killings worldwide each year.
Emily Blackwood is an editor at YourTango who covers pop culture, true crime, dating, relationships and everything in between. Every Wednesday at 10:20 p.m. you can ask her any and all questions about self-love, dating, and relationships LIVE on YourTango’s Facebook page. You can follow her on Instagram (@blackw00d) and Twitter (@emztweetz).