VADODARA: In a stunning revelation, the murder of a 45-year-old man in Padra village was allegedly orchestrated by his own daughter, who had him killed by her lover for persistently opposing their relationship and keeping her locked in a room.Police said it was the third attempt by the 17-year-old girl to sedate her parents in three days since Dec 16 before she finally succeeded on the night of Dec 18.
After they fell fast asleep under the effect of the pills, she called her boyfriend, who repeatedly stabbed her father, Shana Chavda, at their residence, even as the girl watched the fatal assault from the window of the room in which she had been locked.The prime accused, Ranjit Waghela (25), was out on bail after being arrested under the POCSO Act on a complaint filed earlier by Shana.After Shana was found murdered on Friday morning, his brother, Moti (50), had expressed suspicion that Waghela, who was in a relationship with his minor niece, could be behind the murder. Moti told police that the girl had eloped with Waghela in July, following which Shana lodged a POCSO case against him. Waghela was arrested but later released on bail.Police said Waghela had a quarrel with Shana about a fortnight ago after being seen with the girl.
Moti alleged that Waghela had threatened then that only he would marry the girl and that he would not hesitate to kill anyone in her family who came in the way.While the threat initially appeared hollow, investigators later found that not only Waghela but the girl herself had been conspiring to kill her father. "The father used to lock his daughter and his wife, Bhavna, in a room at night and sleep outside. He was strongly opposed to the relationship, especially as his elder daughter had also married against his wishes," said Vadodara superintendent of Police (SP) Sushil Agrawal.Agrawal said the girl had made two earlier attempts to sedate her parents by mixing sleeping pills in water. "However, the mother found the taste unusual and did not drink it," he said.After the initial plan failed, the girl again laced her parents' food with sleeping pills on Tuesday night. "To check whether they were sedated, she made a noise and the mother woke up, forcing the girl and her boyfriend to abandon the plan once again," Agrawal said.On Dec 18 night she again spiked the food and called Waghela. He came with his friend Bhavya Vasava (23) and stabbed Shana to death."The girl was inside the locked room at the time of the murder and witnessed the killing through a window, while her mother slept beside her. We have arrested Waghela and Vasava," he added.Police are also probing how the accused procured such a large quantity of sleeping pills.