The mother of the deceased girl has also been arrested for allegedly causing evidence to disappear.
The incident occurred in Tiredu village under the Chintapally mandal of the district on September 15, when the accused, Chinna Narasimha, allegedly banged his daughter's head against the wall of their house, which led to her death. He then allegedly doused the body of the girl in kerosene and set it on fire, a police official said.
"The girl was an aspiring singer, but her father was opposed to it. Around two weeks ago, he had quarrelled with her over singing. He always kept a watch on her," the inspector said.
On the fateful day, the girl had returned home from school and as the door was locked, left her schoolbag outside and gone to her uncle's house.
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In the meantime, Narasimha and his wife Lingamma returned.
"After noticing that his daughter was not in the house but her bag was there, Narasimha started looking for her. He then spotted her talking to someone. He brought her back home and quizzed her about the person. When the girl replied to him in an arrogant manner, he caught her by the neck and banged her against the wall, which caused her death," Reddy said.
"The neighbours alerted the police after they saw flames coming out of the house," the inspector said.
The Village Revenue Officer (VRO) lodged a police complaint, stating that the girl was found dead with burn injuries.
"The VRO suspected that it was not a case of suicide, though the girl's parents were insisting to perform her last rites without lodging a police complaint," Reddy said.
During investigation, the couple initially stuck to their stand that their daughter took her own life.
"However, they later admitted to have killed the girl," Reddy said.
"He had a doubt that she spoke to someone frequently," he said.
A murder case was registered against Narasimha. His wife was also booked for removing evidence. The couple was arrested last evening, the inspector said.