Family of 5 wiped out for rejecting marriage offer

A family of five has been eliminated allegedly because a 45-year-old man refused to marry off his minor daughter to a married man belonging to an influential family in West Singhbhum district, police said today.

Ram Singh Sirka, his wife Panu Kui, daughter Rambha (17) and sons Kande (12) and Sonya (8) were hacked to death on March 14, Additional Superintendent of Police (Kiriburu), Tauqir Alam, said.

While Ram Singh Sirka's decomposed body was found from a jungle, 3 km away from his home at Tulasai village under Gua police station area, on March 27, bodies of the other four were recovered from another jungle around 5 km away yesterday.

Of the nine named accused, four are the members of an influential family of the area. One of the accused was arrested, Alam said.

One of the four had wanted to marry Rambha but her father rejected him as he is a married man, he said.

Angry at the refusal, the four and five of their accomplishes killed Sirka's family members with rods and sharp weapons when Sirka was not at home on March 14.

They dumped the bodies in the forest and waited for Sirka to return home. When he did, they killed him and dumped his body in the forest, Alam said.

"We have information that eight of the accused fled Jharkhand and police have launched a massive hunt to apprehend them," he added.