Etah (UP), Jul 12 (IANS): The father and brother of a 20-year-old woman have been arrested for allegedly murdering and dumping her body in a canal here, police said on Wednesday .

Badan Singh (58), and Munendra Pratap Singh (24), were upset over the victim's relationship with a 24-year-old man from the same village.

The man is training for a Group D job in the railways and is currently in Assam.

According to police, a complaint was filed by the village’s guard Ramesh Kumar in which he said the victim was in a relationship with a man from the neighbourhood for the past two years.

They were from the same caste, but the girl's family was more affluent as they had agricultural lands.

Kumar said, “The girl wanted to marry the man, but her family was against it leading to frequent arguments between the two families. Recently, the man told me that the girl’s phone number was switched off after they last spoke on July 6. Her father had filed a missing person complaint. Later, I came to know that Badan Singh and Munendra had killed her.”

Additional SP Dhananjay Kushwaha said, “On the basis of a complaint, an FIR has been registered against the father and brother of the victim under IPC sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender). Both have been sent to jail .”

“We cannot claim that the girl was murdered as her body has not been recovered. However, the accused have confessed to the crime. A search for the body in the canal is on.

Primary investigation suggests it is an honour killing,” he added.