Meerut, Jul 22 (IANS): In a shocking incident, a woman and her 10-year-old daughter were murdered on March 28 by the man with whom the woman was in a live-in relationship.

The accused, Shamshad, buried them in the courtyard of his home and continued to live there.

The police, acting on a missing report filed by the woman's friend on July 14, recovered the skeletons of the two on Wednesday.

The police claimed Shamshad had befriended the woman on a social networking site and hid his religious identity.

The couple, along with the woman's daughter from her first marriage, lived together for about four years in his house in the Partapur area. Since the past one year, Shamshad had been putting pressure on her to convert, but she was refusing.

According to the police, Shamshad was called for interrogation, but he fled.

Akhilesh Narain Singh, SP City, said a police team had been sent to Shamshad's native state Bihar. The skeletons of the woman and her daughter were being sent for DNA testing.

Meanwhile, Hindu Yuva Vahini activists told local media this was a case of 'love jihad' and had the police acted in time the murders could have been averted.