Father performs daughter’s death ritual after she elopes with lover

Chikkodi: In a bizarre and emotionally charged incident from Nagaral village in Raibag taluk of Belagavi district, a father performed the tithi (death ritual) of his daughter after she eloped with her lover against his wishes.

According to reports, Shivagouda Patil’s daughter was in love with Vittal Bastawade, a young man from the same village. However, her parents strongly opposed the relationship. Despite their disapproval, the girl ran away with Vittal recently, prompting her father to file a missing person complaint at Raibag Police Station.

When it became clear that his daughter had eloped, Shivagouda, overcome with anger and emotional distress, decided to sever all ties with her. Declaring that she was “dead” to him, he conducted her death ritual (shraddha) an act traditionally reserved for deceased family members.

The father reportedly hosted a full-scale tithi feast for the entire village, inviting relatives and neighbours to partake. In a striking public gesture, he even put up memorial banners displaying his daughter’s photograph across the village, symbolically marking her “death” to the family.

Shivagouda, who has four daughters, is said to have been particularly heartbroken as the eloped girl was his youngest. The act has sparked intense debate in the region — with some locals viewing it as an extreme emotional reaction, while others condemned it as a regressive display of patriarchal control.

Police sources confirmed that no criminal complaint has been filed in connection with the ritual, but the incident has drawn widespread attention and social media discussions.