Banaskantha Honour Killing: Father, uncle murder daughter over relationship, perform overnight cremation

A shocking case of honour killing has emerged from Dantia village in Tharad taluka, where a father and uncle allegedly murdered their daughter, who had reportedly scored 478 in NEET over her live-in relationship.

Police say the two spiked the 18-year-old’s dinner with sleeping pills, strangled her, and attempted to pass it off as a suicide before hurriedly performing her cremation in the dead of night to destroy evidence.

From topper to target of her own family

According to the complaint lodged at Tharad police station, the victim, Chandrika, daughter of Sendha Chaudhary, was preparing for the NEET exam while living in a hostel in Palanpur. During this time, she fell in love with Haresh Chaudhary from Vadgamda village. Her family disapproved of her studies and relationship, and Chandrika reportedly told Haresh via social media that if her family learned about their relationship, they would forcibly marry her off.

On June 4, 2025, the couple met in Ahmedabad and travelled together through Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Meanwhile, Chandrika’s family filed a missing complaint, after which police located the two in Rajasthan and returned Chandrika to her family while arresting Haresh in connection with another case.

Soon after, Chandrika was allegedly drugged and strangled by her father and uncle to prevent her from eloping again. The family then cremated her body early the next morning without informing the police or conducting a postmortem.

Pleaded with friend to save her

The crime came to light when Haresh, released on bail on June 21, accessed his Instagram account and found multiple messages from Chandrika, claiming that police had betrayed her and pleading for him to rescue her before her family forced her into marriage or killed her.

He subsequently filed a habeas corpus petition in the Gujarat High Court on June 23, but before she could be produced in court on June 27, Chandrika was allegedly murdered on June 24.

Police have registered a murder case against Sendha Chaudhary and Shivram Chaudhary, Chandrika’s father and uncle, and launched further investigation.