Chennai:
A 16-year-old schoolgirl, initially reported to have committed suicide after an MMS clip involving her and a few boys began doing rounds in her village, was killed by her uncle, the Tiruvallur Police said on Saturday.
The honour killing angle became evident after the paternal uncle of K Thilagavathi, the deceased girl, confessed to having killed her during police interrogation.
On December 20, Thilagavathi's family had reported to the police that she was found hanging in the house. As the postmortem report found the hyoid bone broken, the police arrested Hari, a daily wage labourer and the girl's uncle, at Padirivedu near Gummidipoondi on Saturday.
Police said the girl's mother would also be arrested as Hari had confessed that he was instigated to commit the murder by her. They added that Hari had confronted the girl about the MMS clip and about the rumours that she had affairs with schoolboys.
"The girl did not answer her uncle. However, her affairs with five boys were just a rumour. It was not true," said Sylendra Babu, Inspector General of Police, North Zone, and Tamil Nadu. "In a fit of rage, he gave her a hard slap and the girl fainted. After that he strangled her and hanged the body."
Police said the girl was irregular to school and weak in studies for the past two years, which allegedly upset her mother.
Police sources added that the girl's mother allegedly had an affair with Hari.
It was earlier reported that Thilagavathi, a student of the Government Higher Secondary School at Madarpakkam, committed suicide after an MMS clip showing her and another girl in a compromising position with five boys was circulated among other students, the police said.
Later, the police secured three of the boys in the video and sent them to a juvenile home. "The boys had escaped to Andhra," said V Vanitha, Superintendent of Police, Tiruvallur. Search is on for the other two.