Siddhartha Nagar, Feb 14 (IANS): The Siddhartha Nagar police in Uttar Pradesh have arrested a man for the murder of his 17-year-old-daughter.

In his confessional statement, the accused, Prahlad Kumar told the police that his daughter Sandhya was in a relationship with her classmate.

Kumar had objected to the relationship because the boy was from another caste. When she refused, he strangled her to death with his muffler.

Superintendent of Police, Siddhartha Nagar, Prachi Singh said that Sandhya’s body was found on February 10 in Kharagwar village under the Shohratgarh police station.

Her mother identified the body, prompting the registration of an FIR against a boy of her daughter’s age.

“We found some boiled rice near her body and the victim’s mother claimed that it must have been laced with sedatives offered by her boyfriend, thus accusing him of murder,” said Singh.

When the police questioned the victim’s mother about her husband’s whereabouts, she claimed he was in Mumbai. However, her husband’s location was traced to Lucknow.

“We quickly formed teams and apprehended her husband,” the police added.

Prahlad, during interrogation, confessed that he disapproved of Sandhya’s relationship with her friend. In his confession, Prahlad claimed that he planned the murder due to societal pressure and fear of tarnishing his reputation.

“I asked her not to see that boy again. However, she refused, saying that it was her life and she would live it her way. I got angry at this and throttled her neck with a muffler. I then dressed the scene to appear as though Sandhya had been poisoned by her lover. Subsequently, I fled to Lucknow,” he said in his confession.

Police revealed that in the past too, Prahlad had warned Sandhya not to associate with that boy.