Dad In Prison For Daughter's 'Murder' Freed After She Turns Up Before Police

A 61-year-old man, who had been languishing in prison for three years after being charged with murdering his daughter, has finally been released after his "dead" daughter turned up in front of the police.

Lalaram, hailing from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, was released from the prison last week after his "murdered" daughter Soni arrived at the office of a senior police official. She filed a complaint before requesting her father's release, reported News 18.

Local media said Soni was first reported missing in 2016. Lalaram had then approached the police to file a complaint against four people in his village. However, despite his efforts to find his daughter and prove his innocence, police ended up arresting him in 2018. He was charged with the murder of his daughter.

Ignoring the merit of the case, the officers also filed a charge sheet based on conspiracy and false evidence, the report added. He was then put behind bars and has been in jail for the last three years.

However, his daughter reappeared before the police last week after hearing about her father's arrest. Soni approached a senior police official to declare she was alive. Though it is unclear where she had been all these years, the girl is said to have told police that she left the home of her own will and her father had no role in it.

According to Lalaram, he was beaten up and tortured by certain police officials into "confessing the murder." He said officials, who investigated his daughter's disappearance, also threatened they would charge his innocent son-in-law if he did not pay them bribes.

Following this, the local court released the man and ordered a probe against the officers involved in the conspiracy. The judge has also ordered an investigation against the four people mentioned by Lalaram in his complaint.

A similar incident was reported in the Indian city of Aligarh last year wherein police found a body inside a suitcase. It was "identified" as 24-year-old Warisha, who was "murdered" by her in-laws. Her husband and his relatives were arrested and sentenced to jail for murder. However, a year later, the "dead" woman turned up before a police station. It was later revealed that police concluded the investigation into the case without conducting a DNA test.