Police have arrested a man and his daughter in connection with the gruesome death of a woman in Hetauda on Tuesday.

The death of Susmita Kc, 26, which has triggered discussions on social media, could be a case of murder, investigators and kin of the woman say while the in-laws of the deceased say she might have killed herself.

“Kc’s father-in-law Prakash Thapa, 58, and sister-in-law Sita Thapa, 23, were arrested on Friday in connection with Kc’s death for further investigation,” said Deputy Superintendent Indra Bahadur Rana, information officer at Makwanpur District Police Office.

At 7 am on Tuesday, police had found the body of the 26-year-old on the kitchen floor of her husband’s house at Hetauda-4, Makwanpur.

“KC’s neighbours suspected something was wrong at her home and informed police,” said an investigative officer on the condition of anonymity as he wasn’t allowed to talk with the media.

“When we reached the incident site, the kitchen door was closed from inside, and when we broke in, we saw that the body was on the floor and it had several injuries, including a big one on the back of the head,” the officials said.

Soon after the incident came out on social media, many have been demanding a fair investigation. The Post reached out to family members of the deceased and talked to some of her relatives.

“As she was her parents’ only daughter, she was close to them, especially to her mother Laxmi. Her parents and her younger brother have been traumatised by the incident,” said her cousin sister Ekta Karki.

Although investigators are yet to ascertain weather KC killed herself or someone murdered her, the Karki believe that it was a case of premeditated murder orchestrated by her in-laws.

After completion of her bachelor's degree in hotel management from Rawal Institute of management, Delhi, KC , who hails from Badanga Municipality-8, Kapilvastu, had returned to Nepal, where she tied the knot with Rupendra Thapa, in April last year.

However, in September last year, Rupendra succumbed to his injuries after his bike collided with a truck. “Everything was going good for her before her husband's death. She was devastated, so we planned to bring her back home,” said Neelam Aryal, another cousin.

“But her in-laws didn’t allow us to do that. She was tortured and forced to continue living with the family. However, after two months we brought her home,” said Aryal. “We were not planning to end all ties with her in-laws, we wanted to bring her back as she was not close to any of her in-laws and her husband's death had made her even more lonely.”

Aryal said that her cousin was young and wanted to achieve something in life. That’s why she wanted to return to Delhi and work.

“After her parents gave her the permission to do so, she had been working in Delhi. However, just before the lockdown she returned to her parents’,” said Aryal.

Nearly after two weeks after she returned to Nepal, her in-laws asked her to return to Hetauda for a while as she had to complete some rituals for her husband, she said. “But during a phone call when I asked Susmita about the rituals, she said she had not participated in any ritual, and was only doing regular house chores, added Aryal.

“As the government imposed the lockdown on March 24, she couldn’t return home,” said her cousin Ekta Karki. “Just a day before the incident, she had talked to her mother asking her to bring her back home. But she couldn't make it.”

Sushmita’s in-laws, however, claim that she could have killed herself, said Aryal. The Thapas haven’t commented on the case as KC’s father-in-law and sister-in-law are in police custody.