Justice For Divya Stalls Till Autopsy Report Police Sidestep Crucial Leads

(MENAFN- IANS) Morena, Sep 29 (IANS) Morena police are awaiting the autopsy report in the suspected honour killing of 17-year-old Divya Sikarwar, a Class 12 student whose decomposed body was recovered from the Kunwari River on Sunday, five days after she was allegedly“shot dead” under mysterious circumstances inside her home.

The incident, which occurred on the evening of September 23 in the Shivnagar locality of Civil Lines Police Station area, has sparked outrage and renewed scrutiny of caste-based violence in Madhya Pradesh's Chambal-Gwalior region.

Divya's father, Bharat Sikarwar, has emerged as the“prime suspect” in the case. According to police, he wrapped her body in plastic, tied it to a stone, and disposed it in the river nearly 30 kms from their residence.

Bharat later claimed that her daughter shot herself and he performed her“Jal Dag (water cremation)" after she died en route to the hospital. However, forensic experts examining the body have indicated a point-blank gunshot wound to the head, contradicting the family's shifting narrative, which initially cited electrocution and later suicide.

The case came to light after Bharat declared his daughter dead and began receiving visitors at home. Police sources said neighbours, who reportedly heard a scream and a gunshot on the night of the incident, alerted authorities.

Investigators say the family deliberately avoided reporting Divya as missing, and her younger siblings - a brother and sister, both minors - have also been missing since that night.

Speaking to IANS, Assistant Superintendent of Police Surendra Pal Singh Dabar confirmed the recovery of the body and stated that the post-mortem is being conducted at Gwalior Medical College due to the advanced state of decomposition.

“Only after the forensic report and post-mortem investigation will we be able to confirm the precise cause of death and accordingly register a case of murder or suicide,” he said.

Police only have initial clues; according to the officer, Divya belonged to an upper-caste Kshatriya family and was reportedly close to a young man from a socially disadvantaged caste. Police suspect this relationship may have triggered the fatal attack, pointing to a possible honour killing.

Bharat, also known as Bantu Sikarwar, has been taken into custody, though the boy in question has not yet been interrogated, nor have Call Detail Records been obtained.

The family made claims before police that Divya managed household finances and had access to a pistol registered under her uncle's name, which was kept in her cupboard. Whether this weapon was used in the crime remains under investigation.

“We have not yet recovered the weapon, as the family says it is with her uncle, who serves in the Indian Army,” the officer said.

It remains unclear how Divya's uncle took the weapon with him after her death and why it was kept in Divya's cupboard prior to her death? The officer also did not clarify why Divya's Call Detail Records have not been requested, nor why neighbours have yet to be interrogated.

Additional questions remain unanswered, including who first informed the police about Divya's disappearance and why her siblings, if not missing, have not been questioned. Despite the gravity of the suspected honour killing, glaring lapses in the police investigation raise troubling questions.

These omissions suggest either negligence or hesitation, and they risk undermining the pursuit of justice in a case already steeped in caste prejudice and familial secrecy. This incident echoes previous cases in the region.

In June, a grandfather in Morena allegedly shot his granddaughter over an inter-caste relationship. In January, a 20-year-old girl Tanu Gurjar was killed by her father and cousin in Gwalior. These cases highlight the persistent threat caste orthodoxy poses to young lives seeking autonomy and love.

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