Firozabad – In a chilling case of alleged domestic violence and cover-up, a 25-year-old woman was found buried in front of her in-laws’ house in Faridabad nearly two months after being reported missing. Police on Friday exhumed the body of Tannu Kumar, a native of Shikohabad in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district, after her father persistently raised concerns about her disappearance.
Tannu had been married to Arun Singh of Roshan Nagar for two years. Her father, Hakim, alleged that she had faced prolonged harassment over dowry and had even returned to her parental home for a year before a local panchayat intervened to resolve the dispute.
According to police, Tannu’s husband Arun and father-in-law Bhoop Singh called in an earthmover on April 23 and had a 10-foot-deep pit dug outside their home under the pretext of construction. The next day, they had it filled and levelled. On April 26, they approached police to file a missing person report, alleging that Tannu was mentally unstable.
However, Hakim said he had suspected foul play from the beginning. “When I visited their house with my daughter Preeti, I noticed fresh construction over a pit. I told the police something was wrong, but they refused to act,” he said. “I made multiple visits to the station, but no one listened.”
The case was reportedly ignored for weeks before the police finally acted on the complaint just last week. On Friday morning, in the presence of Naib Tehsildar Jaswant Singh, the pit was dug up — revealing Tannu’s decomposed body.
Faridabad Police have booked four members of the family — Bhoop Singh, his wife Sonia, son Arun Singh, and daughter Kajal — at Palla Police Station under relevant sections including murder and destruction of evidence. Bhoop Singh and Arun Singh are in custody and being interrogated, while the other accused are absconding.
“Tannu’s body was handed over to her family after post-mortem at Badshah Khan Civil Hospital,” said a police spokesperson, adding that raids are being conducted to apprehend the remaining accused.
Hakim, devastated by the discovery, said, “They branded her mentally unstable to save themselves. The truth has finally come out, but it took too long. My daughter would still be lost to the soil had I not persisted.”
The case has raised serious questions about local police inaction and the handling of missing persons reports, particularly in suspected dowry-related crimes.
