Prayagraj: Four cousins of an eight-month pregnant woman shot dead her 30-year-old husband from another caste in the Jethwara area of Pratapgarh district on Monday night for eloping with the woman and marrying her against the wishes of her family.Police also announced a reward of Rs 25,000 each for information leading to the arrest of the three other cousin brothers allegedly involved in the crime.Police said Raju Singh (30), a resident of Katwara, was allegedly shot dead by his wife’s cousins—Arun Verma, Pintoo Verma, Jitendra Verma alias Jeetu, and Tej Bahadur Verma—near Katwara Bazar Road under the Jethwara police station limits on Monday night.According to police, the deceased had eloped with and married the accused’s cousin in August 2025. Since the woman belonged to a different caste, her family had opposed the marriage.Based on a complaint lodged by the victim’s family, police registered a murder case against the four accused, said circle officer (Sadar) Karishma Gupta.Following Arun’s arrest, police announced a reward of Rs 25,000 each on the remaining three accused, all residents of Khatwara.During interrogation, Arun allegedly told police that the victim’s elopement with his cousin about a year ago had triggered a bitter feud between the two families. He further confessed that ever since the couple got married, the accused had been conspiring to kill their brother-in-law, despite the fact that his cousin is now eight months pregnant.Police said three teams have been constituted to arrest the remaining accused.
