Jharkhand: Parents arrested for scribe's murder

The parents of Nirupama Pathak, who was allegedly murdered by her family members on Thursday, were taken into custody for interrogation on Monday, a senior police official said.

"We have detained the parents of Pathak, who was attached with a reputed English business daily from New Delhi, for interrogation in connection with her murder," Koderma Superintendent of Police Kranti Singh said.

He, however, refused to comment on whether Pathak's death was a case of 'honour killing', saying the investigation was still going on.

The police, he said, were also searching for other family members and friends, who allegedly played a role in the killing.

The mysterious death of the journalist turned out to be a case of murder in the post-mortem report released on Sunday. The report confirmed that the death was due to 'asphyxia as a result of smothering'.

The SP said though the incident had taken place in the morning, her family members informed the police only in the evening.

The report also confirmed that a ligature mark was formed around her neck as she was strangulated with a rope after she died.

Pathak's body was found hanging from a fan at her residence in Koderma on April 30. Her family members initially claimed that she had died of electrocution while cleaning the fan. They later said that she had committed suicide, even producing a suicide note allegedly written by Pathak.

Pathak was involved in a relationship with a man from a lower caste and she was allegedly under pressure from her family to end it. Her boyfriend told the police that he had received threatening letters from her parents.