A doctor has been accused of killing his domestic help, whose body was fished out of a pond on Wednesday barely 50km from his house in Forbesganj.

The deceased was identified as Bimla Kumari, 16, a resident of Khairkha village in ward number 9. She was working at Dr Ashutosh Kumar’s house for the past four years. Sources said though her parents had in the past approached the doctor to take their daughter back to the village for marriage, the accused allegedly pledged to incur all the expenses of her marriage whenever it was solemnised.

Dr Kumar is a paediatrician and runs a private clinic on Hospital Road in Forbesganj, around 400km northeast of Patna. He had joined Forbesganj Referral Hospital three years ago on a contract basis. Dr Kumar lives in his house along with his wife and his assistant, Birendra Kumar.

“Dr Kumar, his wife and Birendra have been named accused in the murder case filed under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code with the Forbesganj police station. The trio are, however, absconding. We have launched a manhunt and expect to catch them as soon as possible,” Araria superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande told The Telegraph.

“It is difficult to ascertain if the girl was murdered by the doctor or someone else. We have to interrogate the doctor, his wife and the assistant. Prima facie, it appears that the girl was strangulated to death before her body was thrown into the pond. The body has been handed over to her parents after an autopsy at Araria sadar hospital. It is too early to conclude if the victim was raped before being murdered. We are awaiting the autopsy report,” the officer added.

Lande said: “Whenever her parents came to see Bimla, they were not allowed to meet her. The doctor allegedly used to tell them that he would bear the expense of her marriage. The victim’s parents also told us that the doctor used to give the girl’s parents Rs 500 on each occasion they visited him. They also alleged that the doctor’s wife had beaten up the help a fortnight ago, following which the victim wanted to return to her village.”

Bimla’s father, Bhutai Das, said, “We had never thought that my daughter would be killed in such a way. The doctor was well behaved and it appeared he treated Bimla as his daughter. Whenever we went to his house to take our daughter back home, he used to tell us not to worry about her future, as he would take all the responsibility of her wedding.”

Shot dead

A 60-year-old man was shot dead at Baria Tola in the B Kothi area, around 55km west of the Purnea district headquarters, on Tuesday night. The deceased was identified as Jagannath Mandal.

Police suspect that the murder was a fall-out of a land dispute. Residents said there were disagreements between Jagannath and his neighbour, Digamber Mandal, over a 44-acre land in the village.

A resident added that Jagannath was allegedly beaten up by Digamber’s kin about a year ago. The dispute over the land is being heard by two courts. The police said investigation into Jagannath’s murder was on.