Police have arrested a man on charge of murdering his 14-year-old daughter in Bara district.

Pheta Rural Municipality local Harindra Mahato was taken into police custody on January 19, almost five months after he murdered his daughter and disposed of her body in a river.

On August 29, police had recovered the headless corpse of the victim from the Imirti river in Jirabhawani Rural Municipality of Parsa district. The decapitated head was found the following day in the same river.

It was suspected that the incident had taken place three to four days before the recovery of the body since the corpse had already started to decompose, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Kumar Bikram Thapa.

The incident came to light after police discovered the teenager had been missing during the investigation.

The 44-year-old confessed to the crime, revealing that he had learned of his daughter’s intercaste relationship.

“He has admitted to committing the crime after finding out about the victim’s relationship with a boy of a ‘lower caste’ and failing to talk her out of it,” Thapa said.

Further investigation into the matter is underway.