In a suspected case of honour killing, a 22-year-old girl and her fiancé were murdered allegedly by the relatives of the girl at Dhobawalia village in Siwan, around 140km northwest of Patna, on Thursday.

Police said the bodies of Sabita Kumari and her boyfriend Jitendra Sah (25) were found hanging from a tree on the outskirts of their ancestral village under the jurisdiction of Maharajganj police station of the district early Thursday morning.

The police also recovered from the place of occurrence a valise containing Rs 5,000 cash and clothes. The cops suspect that the man was summoned by the girl's relatives to their house late Wednesday night and subsequently murdered.

The police added that the bodies of the victims were hanged from the tree to mislead the police and to show that it was a case of suicide.

"The probe is on to ascertain the truth behind the incident," Siwan superintendent of police Saurabh Sah said, adding that the girl's father Ishwarlal Sharma has been detained for interrogation.

An investigating officer said her relatives got furious after the man visited their house on Wednesday.

"Sah had returned from Surat (Gujarat) on Tuesday and went to meet Sabita the next morning only to invite the wrath of the girl's relatives," the investigating officer said.

The girl's father and brother were opposed to the marriage because the couple hailed from different castes. Even on Wednesday, the family members of the girl and the man had got into an altercation over the issue, a resident reportedly told the police.

The station house officer (SHO) of Maharajganj police station, Sanjiv Kumar Ranjan, said the couple were in the relationship for over five years.

"The man had come to his ancestral village to take the girl to Surat where he worked in a private firm. The girl's family immediately opposed," he added. Maharajganj sub-divisional police officer Sanjeet Kumar Prabhat said the incident came to the fore when some residents of the village had gone to attend the call of nature early morning.

They immediately informed the police, who rushed to the spot and sent the bodies for post-mortem.

"Prima facie, it appears to be a case of honour killing. But it is too early to jump to conclusions as the post-mortem report is yet to come," the sub-divisional police officer said, adding that the man was the only son of Bankelal Sah, a small-time businessman.

Meraj Ahmad, a police officer at Maharajganj, said a few residents told them that the girl's family had earlier threatened Sah's mother with dire consequences if her son "didn't mend his ways". The deceased's mother, however, had not lodged a complaint then.

"My son can't commit suicide. He has been killed and justice should be done," she said.

Woman kills daughters

A middle-aged woman killed her two minor daughters following an altercation with her husband on Thursday.

The incident occurred at Badahibigha village under the jurisdiction of Sare police station in Nalanda district.

Rubi Devi, in a fit of rage, strangulated to death her two daughters - Sonali (5) and Sonam (3) - after a fight with her husband Surendra Kumar.

Police said Surendra was putting pressure on his wife to live with him at Kumharar in Patna. However, Ruby, who allegedly has an affair with her sister's husband, was adamant on staying at her parents' house, which led to the quarrel in the family.