Berhampur, June 22: A 19-year-old girl was strangulated to death last Friday allegedly by her father and two minor brothers at Pankalabadi in Polasara village for being in relationship with a youth of a neighbouring village.

Police have arrested Surya Dalai and his two minor sons for the alleged honour killing.

Sujit Nayak, police officer in charge of Polasara, said: “Enraged over the defiant attitude of his daughter, Surya and his two sons strangulated Minati with a rope. Later, they hanged her body from a tree in the backyard of the house to give an impression that it was a case of suicide. The police visited the spot yesterday morning on being informed by Surya that his daughter had committed suicide. ”

“During inspection, we found that the victim had injury marks on her face, legs, head and neck. It was a case of murder and the arrested persons have confessed to the offence,” said the police officer.

Earlier this month, the girl’s family members had lodged a complaint with Polasara police against the boy’s family.

On June 16, the police had called the parents of both the girl and the boy as well as village elders.

There it was decided that the lovers would formally be united through marriage.

However, Minati’s father, who had said yes to the idea in the presence of the police, was in no mood to accept the proposal.

The police said that the girl was determined to marry the boy and on Friday she had a quarrel with her family members, who had been trying to dissuade her from the move.