Man held for killing son who tried to rape cousin in Rajasthan

A man has been arrested for allegedly killing his 17-year-old son, who attempted to rape his cousin, in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district, police said today.

The 40-year-old accused and his elder son were detained on June 29. The boy's father was formally arrested yesterday, the police said.

They were detained on the basis of an FIR lodged on the complaint of village Sarpanch Manoj Jatav, who had accused the man and his elder son of killing the boy and termed it a case of human sacrifice.

Police, however ruled out that the incident was a human sacrifice and said the boy used to allegedly molest his cousin and recently also tried to rape her.

Irked over this, his father shot the boy dead with a country-made pistol on June 28 and the funeral was conducted the same night.

The family of the boy's father and his younger brother's family live together in a house in their farm. His brother is a CRPF personnel.

"The boy had been sexually abusing his cousin for some time and he tried to rape her on June 25. When the matter came to light on June 28, his father got angry and opened fire at the boy leaving him dead, Bhusawar Circle Officer Mahendra Kumar Sharma said today.

After which, the accused called some of his relatives and they conducted the funeral in their farm. His elder son lit the pyre, the police officer said.

When the village sarpanch came to know about the sudden death of the boy and funeral at night and that too in their farm instead of a cremation ground, he along with other locals informed police the next day and raised doubt that it could be a case of human sacrifice.

The father was arrested yesterday on the basis of the facts which cropped up during the investigation. Those who have been involved in destroying evidences will also be arrested.

"The accused will be produced in a court today, the officer said, adding, that the weapon used in the crime could not be recovered so far.