The body of Mala, a final year student in a city college, was found in the bathroom of her residence in Shastri Nagar area yesterday, police said, adding that prima facie it appeared the death occurred due to forcible drowning in a tub.
The victim's mother lodged a police complaint alleging that her husband Bhim Singh, who is an engineer with ONGC in Gujarat and had come home on leave, killed the girl as he always wanted a son. She alleged Singh would often assault their daughter.
The couple has one more daughter who is married.
However, the father, who has been taken into custody, denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, police have also taken into custody a friend of the victim for questioning.
Police have sent the body for postmortem and are investigating the matter.