A deeply complicated and sensational case has emerged from the Patara town in Kanpur district, Uttar Pradesh. Panic gripped the area after the body of a 25-year-old unmarried Dalit woman was found in an orchard near the Tilsara turn. In a shocking twist, the deceased’s body bore traditional signs of a married woman—her hair parting (demand) was filled with lipstick, she wore new toe rings (bichhiya) on the third toe of her feet, and a bindi was adorned on her forehead.

The post-mortem report revealed that the cause of death was poisoning, and she was 5 months pregnant. Based on a complaint lodged by the deceased’s father, the police have registered a murder case against two lovers.

Two Lovers Named, One Accused in Custody

Following the incident, the deceased’s father filed a written complaint at the Patara police station, making serious allegations of murder against two individuals. The first accused is 50-year-old Gole Pandey, a local resident of Patara, while the second is Pranjul Pal, a resident of Jehanabad in Fatehpur district.

Based on the father’s complaint, the police registered a case of murder against both suspects. Taking prompt action, the police took Pranjul Pal into custody, while four separate police teams are conducting continuous raids to arrest the 50-year-old Gole Pandey.

Call Detail Records (CDR) Reveal Dual Love Affairs

Initial police investigations and Call Detail Records (CDR) have brought several startling facts to light. During interrogation, detained accused Pranjul revealed that his maternal grandparents’ village is in Patara, and he obtained the victim’s phone number through a friend, which led to their conversations and romantic involvement. Pranjul works at a factory in Rania, Kanpur Dehat, earning 12,000 rupees a month, and was staying at his brother-in-law’s house in Bidhnu.

The investigation revealed that the victim’s father had taken Gole Pandey’s fields on a sharecropping (batai) basis. Gole’s wife passed away several years ago, and his two daughters are married. Gole had helped the victim secure a job in the Kanpur Metro and housed her in a rented accommodation in Ramadevi, where intimate relations developed between the two. On the day of the incident, the victim had a long conversation with Pranjul for 1,400 seconds (about 23 minutes) and with Gole for 600 seconds (10 minutes). After consuming poison, it was Gole Pandey who took the victim to Hallet Hospital for treatment.

Pressure to Marry, Family Rejection, and Tragic End

Police interrogation revealed that due to age and other circumstances, the victim did not want to marry Gole Pandey. Instead, she was constantly pressuring the younger Pranjul Pal to marry her, which Pranjul was refusing to do. On July 11, when news of her 5-month pregnancy came to light, her family threw her out of the house and cut off all ties with her, leaving her in deep distress. According to detained Pranjul, on the day of the incident, the pregnant victim demanded money from him and threatened to consume poison if he refused.

Police to Conduct DNA Test to Determine Paternity of the Unborn Child

A major suspense surrounds the biological paternity of the 5-month-old fetus in the victim’s womb. Detained Pranjul has been unable to provide any clear statement in this regard. Emphasizing the gravity of the matter, the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) stated that to uncover the truth, DNA samples of both accused (Pranjul Pal and Gole Pandey) will be collected and matched with the DNA of the deceased fetus. The DNA report will clarify who the biological father of the unborn child was and what the primary motive behind this incident was.