Man in honor of Maharashtra kills pregnant sister with sickle while mother holds baby

A pregnant 19-year-old woman in India is said to have been beheaded with a sickle by her younger brother, who then took a selfie with the decapitated head alongside their mother.

The horrifying murder – considered an honor killing after the woman ran away with her fiancé without her family’s consent – happened in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Sunday, according to the BBC. . Both the young man, identified as Sanket Mote, and the couple’s mother, identified as Shobhabai Mote, have been arrested in connection with the murder of the woman, named Kirti Avinash Thore.

“Kirti was preparing tea when Sanket attacked her with a sickle from behind while the mother grabbed her daughter’s leg,” Kailash Prajapati, Assistant Commissioner of Police, SDPO Vaijapur told local media. “He cut off her head and took it outside the house. We suspect that mother and daughter took a selfie with their heads. We sent the phone to a forensic lab to try and get the photo back. The duo then left on the bike. ”

Local media reported that the woman’s mother and brother ostensibly visited the couple to reconcile, but when her newlywed husband left the room to give them some privacy, the couple allegedly kill her. The husband is said to have run away from home fearing he might also be killed.

It is not clear whether the sickle was left in the house or the mother and daughter hid it with the intention of using it.

Indian news agency ANI said the 38-year-old mother and 18-year-old son had pulled the victim’s head out of their home and displayed it in front of neighbors, apparently admitting the crime.

The man told police that his sister had not obtained consent before marrying her boyfriend last June. She has become estranged from her family since running away, but her mother visited her a week before she was killed, at which point she learned her daughter was pregnant.

A week later, she and her son returned and were accused of committing the gruesome murder.