Jaipur, Oct. 1: A young engineering graduate from Alwar claims his wife's family murdered her because the couple were from different castes and had married against their parents' wishes.

Devasheesh Meena, 22, alleges that police are turning a blind eye because of the politically explosive nature of the Meena-Gujjar rivalry in Rajasthan.

Pratibha Gujjar, 23, a BSc, died on July 27 at her family's home in their ancestral village of Khakhawali in Bharatpur, 175km from here, police say. The family had said she had been electrocuted.

Devasheesh lodged a police complaint in Jaipur on August 19 alleging that Pratibha's father, a bank employee, had murdered her to "protect the family honour" because the childhood sweethearts had eloped and married in Delhi.

The inspector-general of Bharatpur, Biju G. Joseph, told The Telegraph he would speak at the end of chief minister Vasundhara Raje's visit to Sawai Madhopur.

Additional superintendent Laxman Das, the investigating officer, said: "The girl's father has been questioned but they say she got electrocuted by an air cooler. It could be murder too. No arrests have been made yet."

Ever since the Gujjars began demanding Scheduled Tribe status, seeking a piece of the pie that has bolstered the powerful Meenas' clout in the police and administration, the two communities have been at loggerheads.

Devasheesh said he and Pratibha had first met in school in Alwar, their hometown, in 2006. Pratibha's family learnt about the relationship in 2008 and tried to dissuade them.

"My family too was opposed to the relationship but not as strongly," Devasheesh said.

In 2009, Pratibha was sent to Kota to prepare for her engineering entrance. Devasheesh joined an engineering college in Tripura but later returned to Alwar and graduated from there. Pratibha didn't get an engineering seat and joined a college in Alwar.

Devasheesh said an aunt of Pratibha saw them together last year and the girl's family began torturing her.

He alleged that in February this year, Pratibha wrote to a friend asking her to pass it on to Devasheesh. The letter is unsigned but Devasheesh has asked the police to get it verified by a handwriting expert.

She purportedly wrote: "Papa has said he will kill me... he was not joking. I don't know what to do. I don't know what might happen. Yesterday, Papa slapped me... he would have killed me but di (sister) saved me somehow."

The couple eloped and got married on May 11 this year in Delhi. They then left for Vaishno Devi in Jammu but were lured back by Pratibha's father with the promise of getting them married again socially.

Devasheesh said Pratibha did not believe her father and did not want to come back. When they reached Alwar on May 13, they were separated from the railway station and Pratibha was taken to Khakhawali.

Pratibha's last call came on July 23. She was crying incessantly, Devasheesh said, saying her family could do anything to her. Her promised call of July 26 never came.

Devasheesh went to Khakhawali on July 30. He alleges that several of the villagers warned him against filing a police complaint and tried to bribe him with an offer of Rs 10 lakh.