Days before her wedding, engineering student found dead in Maharashtra gorge, boyfriend held

KOLHAPUR: A 25-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his 23-year-old girlfriend, an engineering student whose body was found nearly 1,000ft below a cliff at Naikwadi waterfalls Maharashtra's Kolhapur.Police came to know of the death Saturday when Sripad Vadar walked into a PS and reported that Tarrannum Naik, a third-year student who lived with her maternal grandmother in Gargoti, had fallen into a gorge from a cliff.Police sent a team to the remote site and retrieved her body."He told us they had been in a relationship for five-and-a-half years and were distressed because her family had fixed her marriage elsewhere. According to him, the couple had decided to die by suicide together. He claimed she jumped into the gorge, but he lost his nerve at the last moment," sub-divisional police officer Vivek Patil said.Naikwadi waterfalls are deep inside forested terrain, about 50km from Gargoti. The falls were dry after the monsoon, and no visitors were in the area when the couple reached the spot Friday, police said.Police registered a case under section 140(3) of BNS, relating to wrongful confinement. But examination of messages exchanged between the couple raised doubts about Sripad's account."The chat history does not support the account he gave us about a suicide pact. The messages suggested Sripad was upset over Tarrannum's family's decision to get her married to someone else. That raised serious doubts and led us to invoke BNS section 103(1) for murder," Patil said.Accused Sripad, also from Gargoti, worked with his brother, a local contractor. On Sunday, a court remanded Sripad in police custody for five days.Police have seized mobile phones of both Tarrannum and the accused for forensic analysis. Police are awaiting the autopsy report.Tarrannum's last rites were performed at her native Patgaon. Her marriage had been fixed for Nov 12. Her death sparked protests in Gargoti, where residents marched to police station Sunday and demanded a fast-track trial.You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Kolhapur | Silver Rate in Kolhapur | Bank Holidays in Kolhapur | Public Holidays in KolhapurStay updated with the latest Kolhapur news. Download the TOI App.