A 20-year-old girl student was shot dead by her father allegedly for having an alleged affair with a youth of another caste in Begusarai district, around 120km east of Patna, on Thursday.

The deceased's father, Kailash Yadav, a resident of Damru Kinar village under the jurisdiction of Matihani police station, became agitated and fired upon his daughter after spotted her with the boy.

Police said the girl's father, a farmer, tried to hush up the matter by tampering with evidence by cremating the girl.

The police immediately intervened and picked up four suspects for interrogation.

The deceased's relatives, however, managed to escape leaving the half-burnt body on the outskirts of the village.

The station house officer of Matihani police station Sunil Kumar said the police swung into action after receiving information from some local residents around 2pm.

"When a police team reached the spot, the relatives had fled the spot," he told The Telegraph over phone.

According to the police, the girl was an Intermediate (Plus Two) student.

"The family members of the deceased girl are absconding after the incident. The body has been sent to the Sadar hospital for post-mortem," the station house officer said.

The police didn't rule out the possibility of it being a case of honour killing.

A source said the girl was attacked after she refused to stay away from the boy despite repeated warnings from the father.

Even on Thursday morning, the father-daughter duo had a verbal duel. Neighbours rushed to her house after hearing gunshots around 11am. The police gathered samples of bloodstains from the house and also recovered an used cartridge.

"A desi katta (locally made pistol) has been used for committing the crime," an investigating officer said.

The officer added that the girl came in contact with the boy about two years ago.

"Both used to go to their college at Godargama village to attend classes. Later, they fell in love and decided to marry, which angered the parents of the girl," he revealed.

"The girl belonged to an affluent family and her parents commanded respect in the society, while the boy came from an economically backward community, which prompted the girl's father to take the extreme step," said the police officer, before adding that the interrogation of the suspects would throw more light on the incident.

Abuse finger at cop

A 14-year-old girl has accused her father, a policeman, of sexual harassment.

The victim, a resident of Begusarai district, met additional director-general of police (headquarters) Sunil Kumar in Patna on Thursday and demanded the arrest of her father, a personnel with the Bihar Military Police.

In her petition to the ADG (headquarters), the girl alleged that when she narrated her woes to her mother, she suggested her not to report the matter to the police.

ADG Kumar is learnt to have asked the station house officer of Begusarai Women's police station, Neel Mani Kumari, to look into the girl's complaint.