India has seen some pretty terrible and mysterious cases of murder and killing within the family. The unfathomable aspect of a family turning on itself so destructively has always caught the attention of the public and the media. A lot of the times, it’s for ‘honour’, though these killers seem like the last people to know anything about the word. Some of the worst cases have been of the parents themselves killing their children, and unfortunately it’s not as uncommon as one would hope.

Here are some famous cases of parents murdering their children.

1. 23 year old Kiran was killed by her mother for ‘drinking, smoking and clubbing’

Residents of Faridabad, Pushpa Kohli paid her brother Kulwinder, a police officer, to kill her daughter Kiran. According to the police, Pushpa said she did it because her daughter ‘drank, smoked and visited clubs.’ Kulwinder, slit her throat on December 27.

Source – dailymail

2. 21 year old Bhawna was strangled by parents for marrying a Punjabi

In 2014, Bhawna Yadav, who attended Sri Venkateswara College in Delhi, was killed days after marrying Abhishek, a Punjabi. Her parents, who were very conservative about inter-caste marriages, strangled their daughter rather than see her marry a Punjabi. Apparently, the mother strangled her while her father held her by the feet.

Source – bbci

3. Deepti Chhikara was strangled by mother and brother for separating from her husband

This 26 year old school teacher was married off to someone against her wishes. After she returned from her in-laws’ within a month, her mother, brother and uncle strangled her to death and dumped her body in Roorkee. All in the name of honour.

Source – tribskwb

4. Sheena Bora was allegedly killed by mother, Indrani Mukherjee

While the case is far from complete, it is thought that Indrani had her daughter killed. There is no forensic evidence available, her body is thought to have been burnt and disposed.The tangle of lies and questions in this case ensure it is far from over.

Source – indiatvnews

5. 19 year old Asha was tortured and killed by family for seeing someone from a lower caste

On finding out that Asha was seeing a boy of a ‘lower’ caste, her family captured the two and tied them up. Her father, uncle and brother then proceeded to brutally flog them with steel rods, before electrocuting them to death. All the accused have been caught.

Source – rediff

6. Aarushi Talwar was murdered by her parents

Dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were convicted in 2013 for the killing of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj at their residence in Noida in 2008. The mysterious and winding case garnered massive media attention.

Source – cloudfront

There are no official figures on these kind of family killings in India, but the All India Democratic Women’s Association estimates about 1,000 such cases nationwide a year.