Bhind, Jan 14 In a suspected case of honour killing, a 21-year-old woman named Nidhi Dhanuk was allegedly shot dead by her father, Munnesh Dhanuk, in Khiriya Thapak village in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind district.
Speaking to IANS, Mehgaon SDOP Sanjay Kocha confirmed the arrest of Munnesh and stated that the body has been sent for post-mortem examination.
"A man has shot and killed his married daughter. The accused is in custody, and we are investigating to ascertain the exact motive," the officer said.
The police have registered a case under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyay Samhita for murder and are probing further details, including the procurement of the illegal firearm.
The incident occurred on Tuesday evening when Munnesh asked Nidhi to come to a mustard field and shot her with a country-made pistol, commonly known as a "katta."
Police recovered her body the following morning after her mother, Pooja Dhanuk, alerted authorities.
"He might have committed the crime between 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday," the police said, but after committing the heinous crime, the accused did not try to escape.
According to police reports, Nidhi had been married to Devu Dhanuk from Gudagudi Ka Naka in Gwalior on December 11, 2025. However, just 17 days later, on December 28, she eloped with a young man from her village, who was reportedly related to her.
The elopement occurred after a shopping trip in Gwalior's Maharaj Bada, where Nidhi spent around Rs 5,000 before disappearing while her husband fetched water.
She later appeared at the Gwalior Kotwali police station, declaring herself an adult and stating she had left willingly to marry her lover.
Munnesh, upon learning of the elopement, reportedly felt defamed and dishonoured by his daughter's actions.
In his statement to the police, he confessed, "There was dishonour, so I killed her," citing social stigma as the motive.
Villagers echoed this sentiment, believing the murder stemmed from fears of familial and societal backlash in a conservative rural setting where inter-family relationships and elopements are often taboo.
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