Man shoots 7-yr-old daughter inhead, secretly buries her: Police

A senior police officer aware of the investigation said that they are also probing if the murder was a premeditated act.

A man allegedly shot dead his seven-year-old daughter at his home in northwest Delhi’s Model Town, then secretly buried her body at a crematorium, police officers aware of the matter said on Friday, adding that he tried to tell friends and relatives that the girl died from an illness.

The post-mortem report revealed only a single gunshot wound, said the police. (Representational Image)

The 27-year-old father, Deepak Pal, who already has two previous criminal cases against him including one of attempted murder, told police that he “accidentally” shot his daughter Gunnu Pal in the head late on Tuesday when he was cleaning his illegally obtained weapon.

After the murder, he tried to first take her body to the cremation ground -- Nigambodh Ghat, but the officials there refused to bury her without documentation from the police and hospital, said police .

The man then travelled to Wazirabad where he secretly buried the body at a local crematorium in the dark of the night, they added.

Police received a complaint in the matter on Tuesday when neighbours suspected that something was amiss.

On Wednesday, police arrested the father and later exhumed the body from the crematorium.

A senior police officer aware of the investigation said that they are also probing if the murder was a premeditated act.

“We do not know what exactly transpired as the post-mortem report reveals only a single gunshot wound,” the officer, who did not wish to be identified, said.

“Pal said that he was alone at his house and was cocking his pistol when his daughter arrived and started watching the television. He got distracted and accidentally fired at her,” the officer said.

“We are also looking into other reasons including premeditated murder,” the officer added.

At the time of the murder, police said that Pal’s wife Pooja was at a hospital with their younger daughter who was undergoing treatment. Gunnu was also undergoing treatment till last week and was discharged two days before her murder.

Pal was employed as a delivery executive for a local courier company and the family lives in the Rajpura area in Model Town, police said.

The probe revealed that Deepak Pal first went to a local clinic where staff confirmed to him that his daughter was dead. The senior officer added, “He came back home and destroyed a wall mirror in a fit of rage. He then decided to bury the body. He called a friend to lend his car and told him that his daughter died due to illness. He covered the body and took it to Nigam Bodh Ghat, but the officials there refused to bury the body without police and hospital papers. He then travelled to Wazirabad where he buried the body at a local crematorium where nobody saw him in the evening.”

Police will also question his friend who lent him the car.

“Pal later told his wife and mother that he killed his elder daughter accidentally and buried her body. They didn’t call anyone. When we received information that Pal had killed his daughter, we sent teams to arrest him and caught him from his home. He was interrogated and he led us to the body. The girl’s body was exhumed after getting necessary approvals from local authorities,” said Jitendra Kumar Meena, deputy commissioner of police (northwest).

Pal was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday. He has been booked under sections of murder and the Arms Act. Meena said police are also interrogating his wife and mother since they also knew about the murder but chose not to inform the police.

The second officer added, “Neighbours told us that Pal had complained of financial woes and would often fight with his wife. We are checking if he planned the murder…”