An Indian teenager, Pratibha Khan, who fell in love with a man from a village outside their own, has been stoned to death by her father and brother in what is generally known as honour killing in that country.
The 19-year-old was given the punishment by her 65-year-old father, Jagpal and her brother, Pradeep, who is 36, while another brother is reported to have said that he is neither sorry nor surprised at the killing as it was meant to claen up the name of the family that she soiled by falling in love with someone who is not from their tribe.
According the Daily Mail, the police believe Pratibha was dragged from her home by her father and brother before being beaten with bricks and strangled to death as her face was smashed beyond recognition 'after she was caught dating a boy from a neighbouring village.'
The bloodied remains of the girl were found by friends in the fields near her home in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state.
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Investigators report that more injuries were inflicted on her after she had died, in an attempt to hide her identity.
Alia Modi, 18, a friend of Miss Khan, told police:
"I was walking home through the fields when I saw a body lying on the ground. It was covered in blood and when I looked at the face, it was so badly damaged I didn't recognise it as Pratibha's. It was only later that I learnt who it was and I was simply horrified."
A police spokesman said:
"The post-mortem report showed that while the cause of death was strangulation, it appeared that she had been repeatedly struck by bricks and stones. Perhaps to hide her identity, some of the blunt force injuries to her face were made after her death, but most weren't.
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It looks like the brother and father dragged her to the fields and assaulted her with bricks and stones. They then strangled her and went on to smash her face beyond recognition."
Speaking about their arrests, the police said:
"An analysis of her mobile phone records pointed to the involvement of her family members, in particular the brother and father. Initially, her brother Pradeep was questioned and claimed she was killed by her lover.
It was only later when we interrogated Pradeep and his father Jagpal separately that we were able to find inconsistencies in their statements.
Eventually they admitted that they had killed her because she was in love with another boy from a nearby village."
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Another of her brothers, Prabhat, 33, said:
"I am neither sorry nor surprised that my sister is dead. If what people say is true, then I am not surprised that my father and brother killed her."
