In Banaskantha district, Gujarat, Chandrika met Haresh Chaudhary while studying for NEET in Palanpur, and the two entered a romantic relationship. After returning to her home village of Datiya for a wedding in May 2025, Chandrika's family restricted her mobility, confiscated her phone, and attempted to force her into an arranged marriage. On June 4, 2025, Haresh brought Chandrika to Ahmedabad where they executed a live-in relationship agreement (Maitri Karaar) before traveling through Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Following a missing person complaint filed by her family, police located the couple in Rajasthan on June 12, handed Chandrika over to her family, and jailed Haresh. While in home custody, Chandrika sent frantic Instagram messages to Haresh on June 17 warning that her family planned to murder her. Unaware of the messages because he was incarcerated, Haresh discovered them after obtaining bail on June 21 and filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court scheduled for hearing on June 27. On June 24, 2025, Chandrika's father, Sendhabhai Dargabhai Chaudhary, and uncle, Shivram, allegedly administered sedatives to Chandrika, strangled her, hung her body to simulate suicide, and hastily cremated her without notifying close relatives or seeking medical assistance. Police subsequently uncovered the staged crime through technical analysis, Instagram records, and conflicting statements, leading to murder charges, two arrests, and an active search for her absconding father.
Country: India
State/Province: Gujarat, India
City/Region: Banaskantha
Incident Type: Honor Killing
Relationship Status: Dating
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Incident Date: June 24, 2025
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2025-06-24
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Family Opposition
The incident follows a classic honor-based violence pattern where family members exercise coercive control over a young woman's personal relationship and marital choices. When Chandrika attempted autonomy through elopement and a live-in agreement, her family leveraged law enforcement to regain custody. Recognizing her continued resistance and legal action by her partner, the family escalated to premeditated murder and staging the scene as a natural death or suicide to preserve family honor.
Police initially received claims from the family that Chandrika died of natural causes or suicide. Investigation led by senior officers uncovered that no medical assistance was sought, close relatives (including her brother) were excluded from cremation, and conflicting explanations were offered. Technical analysis of Instagram chats recovered by boyfriend Haresh Chaudhary confirmed prior explicit threats of violence, leading to charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Two perpetrators were arrested while her father remains absconding.
The family created confusion through a three-layer deception strategy: initially telling nearby attendees it was suicide/hanging, later telling distant relatives it was a natural death, and producing a death certificate claiming natural causes without any medical evaluation.
Chandrika met Haresh in February 2025 in Palanpur while preparing for NEET. In May 2025, her family refused to allow her to return to studies following a village wedding and demanded she accept an arranged marriage. On June 4, Haresh helped her escape to Ahmedabad where they signed a live-in agreement (Maitri Karaar). After police tracked them down in Rajasthan on June 12, Chandrika was returned to her parents and Haresh was jailed. On June 17, Chandrika sent desperate Instagram messages warning that her family planned to murder her. Haresh discovered these upon release on June 21 and petitioned the High Court. To prevent legal interference before the June 27 court hearing, Chandrika's father and uncle sedated, strangled, and hanged her on June 24, cremating her immediately before police exposed the crime in August.
The case illustrates extreme lethality risks in honor-conflict scenarios following forced family reunification. Key risk indicators included explicit death threats communicated by the victim, forcible confinement, confiscation of communication tools, parental opposition to self-determined partnership, and swift escalation upon learning of High Court legal proceedings.
Digital communication recovery and electronic evidence played a crucial role in exposing family-perpetrated honor killings framed as natural deaths or suicides. Escalation often intensifies immediately after victims are forcibly returned to parental control by authorities.
Chandrika sent explicit Instagram messages stating her family was threatening to murder her if she refused an arranged marriage and begging her boyfriend to rescue her.
Inconsistencies in family statements regarding the lack of medical treatment, absence of medical receipts, total exclusion of immediate family members like her brother from the cremation, and recovered Instagram chat history.
Recovered Instagram chat records, technical location/phone analysis, circumstantial evidence regarding hasty cremation, and conflicting oral statements from suspects.
The reporting police officer stated that the family provided conflicting narratives, claiming natural death despite taking no medical steps, failing to inform immediate family members, and hastily executing a nighttime cremation.
Initial reports accepted family claims of natural death or suicide, but follow-up investigation triggered by the boyfriend's application exposed a staged honor murder.
The precise location and arrest status of Chandrika's absconding father Sendhabhai Dargabhai Chaudhary remained pending at the time of the report.