Bhagalpur: A 28-year-old widow was murdered here, allegedly by in-laws out to usurp Rs 4.5 lakh in the bank that her husband left for her. The accused also unsuccessfully tried to kill the widow's three-year-old daughter.

Police arrested the deceased's father-in-law, but two other prime accused fled.

Narad Mandal, the woman's father, lodged an FIR with Habibpur police station against his daughter's father-in-law, Nandalal Mandal, 60, his younger son, Chotu Kumar, and son-in-law Gautam Yadav.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ashish Bharati told on Monday that on June 24, the woman's body was found hanging from a mango tree at Kurwan Bahiyar near New Bypass Road on the outskirts of Bhagalpur. A three-year-old girl was also recovered in an unconscious state near the body, which bore multiple injuries, including heavy blood marks on private parts, suggesting that she had been tortured before being killed. The infant, who was shifted to Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial College and Hospital, also had some injury marks on her body.

"It was apparent that the woman had been killed somewhere else and her body brought and hung from the tree to hide evidence. The killers, who tried to kill the girl, must have fled assuming the infant to be dead," Bharati said.

The SSP said Nandalal had been arrested from his native place at Satghara under the jurisdiction of Habibpur in the district. "The woman's husband, Sanjay Kumar, died last year owing to some disease and the in-laws started torturing her. They even drove her and the child out of the house," Bharati said.

"But some of her in-laws summoned her on June 23 and killed her. We don't have the autopsy report till now. Prima facie, doctors suspect that she was strangled to death. But there was no apparent indication of any sexual assault," the SSP said. "The infant is in panic, as the criminals also tried to strangle her, as evident from the ligature marks found around her neck."

"The woman's husband had around Rs 4.5 lakh in his bank account, which her in-laws were trying to grab. Since the amount was deposited in the bank, some paperwork was involved to withdraw it," the SSP said.

The infant has, however, has alleged that her phupa (uncle), Gautam Yadav, beat up her mother. "We are waiting for the girl to fully recover," Bharati said, while adding that raids were on to arrest the absconding accused.