Bhavnagar, Oct 16 (IANS): A 23-year-old girl was murdered by a youth in Bhaniyavad village in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district after she rejected his marriage proposal, police said.

The Police is searching for the accused, who had fled away from the village after committing the crime.

Khuntavada Police Sub-Inspector Y.P. Vyas told IANS that the girl Chandrika Gohil with her sisters and friends were going to a farm on Saturday morning when the accused Ashwin Chudasama approached her and inquired why she was against marrying him.

The victim replied that she was not ready to marry him irked the accused, who picked up a wood and started hitting the girl on her head.

The girl's sisters and cousins tried to intervene and protect Chandrika, but the accused beat them too with the wood and they suffered injuries.

However, the victim in critical condition was rushed to the hospital where the doctor declared her dead. A penal doctor has conducted a post-mortem of the body.

The Sub-Inspector said that Ashwin's mother had approached Chandrika's mother and shown interest that she was ready to accept Chandrika as her daughter-in-law. However, the request was turned down by Chandrika's mother, which hurt the youth and the latter took revenge by murdering the girl.

According to a local, Ashwin had a crush on Chandrika for a year now and had asked her to marry him but the girl did not reply back.

However, the accused did not budge and sent the girl's mother a marriage proposal to her daughter which was rejected too, though both belonged to the same caste.