New Delhi: Two days after police halted the burial of a 19-year-old girl and registered a murder case, her 55-year-old father and brother have been arrested for allegedly killing her in Tihar village in west Delhi’s Hari Nagar. Police said the family was opposed to her relationship with a boy.Police have also recorded the statement of the boy she was allegedly in a relationship with. The PCR call was allegedly made by his friend.DCP (west) Darade Sharad Bhaskar said: “The accused have been identified as Mohammad Maneer (55), a vegetable vendor, and his son Meraj Ali (19), who worked as a helper in a private company. The two had opposed Noor’s relationship with a boy from their native place, which had continued for nearly two years. When she did not relent, they allegedly killed her. The father pinned her hands down and her brother smothered her with a pillow. The post-mortem report has confirmed smothering as the cause of death.”A police source said, “She was most likely smothered using a pillow, though we are still ascertaining the sequence of events. The role of her mother and sister is also under investigation.”Police have registered a case under sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to murder and destruction of evidence.The source added that although the family initially told neighbours she had died of kidney failure and jaundice, police found no medical record to support the claims.For Noor, milestones like securing admission to an arts course at Jamia Millia Islamia, celebrating her upcoming birthday on April 14, and marrying the person she loved seemed within reach — dreams that were abruptly cut short.When TOI visited the locality, disturbing accounts emerged from neighbours, painting a picture of confinement and abuse in the days just before Noor’s death.For five days, she was confined to her ground floor home, the door netted and locked from the outside. She was allegedly given no food or a phone. Neighbours who lived upstairs watched helplessly. “She would constantly ask us to get her a phone so she could call the police,” said one neighbour, who asked not to be named. “But we all feared for our own safety.”What they could do, they did. Through a small gap at the top of the door mesh, they passed her food.A 19-year-old neighbour, who described growing close to Noor after her family moved into the neighbourhood last year from Bihar’s Basauli, said the family had always been deeply restrictive. “The last time we saw her outside the house was on Eid,” she said. “She was supposed to start college soon. But instead she was locked up. She came second in her class in 12th grade and was very intelligent.”She further said, “There were bruises on her body. Every day, when her parents and siblings would leave for work in the morning, they would lock her inside. She would sit by the door and keep asking children to bring someone who could help get her out.”A family member living in the same building said, “When we asked about her well being we were told she was unwell due to kidney failure and jaundice and that doctors said she won’t survive. After mid-March, when she stepped out to meet the boy and returned home late for a few days, she was not allowed to leave.”
