Two incidents believed to be ‘honour killings’ were reported in Morena and Betul districts of Madhya Pradesh on June 16, involving a teenage girl and a young man killed over relationships deemed unacceptable by their families.
In Morena district, 19-year-old Malishka, a Class XI student from Jaura, was shot dead at point-blank range. Initially, her grandfather, Sirnam Singh, claimed that four armed men had ambushed her while she was returning from her maternal uncle’s village with her parents. He attributed the murder to a land dispute with another family.
However, police investigations uncovered inconsistencies in Singh’s statement. Under pressure, Singh confessed that he himself had orchestrated the killing. Malishka had been in a relationship with a distant relative but later fell in love with a youth from another caste, which was strongly opposed by Singh and the youth’s father, Naresh Tyagi. Both men allegedly planned and carried out the murder. They remain in police custody.
Meanwhile, in Betul district, a man named Raja Ghorpade was beaten to death by relatives of a married woman, Sangita Nagle, with whom he had eloped in May 2025. Sangita had left her husband, Baldev Nagle, and eloped with Raja to Gujarat, taking her five-year-old daughter with her. After frequent marital disputes, her family convinced her to return to Betul, promising legal assistance for a separation.
Tragically, on June 16, as Sangita, Raja, and her daughter were traveling by bus, her husband and a group of relatives intercepted the vehicle and violently assaulted Raja. Despite being rushed to the hospital, Raja died from his injuries.
Eleven accused, including Sangita’s husband Baldev Nagle, his brother, eight other men, and Sangita’s sister-in-law, Sonam Nagle, were arrested by Betul police.
