‘Murdered’ girl returns home to find dad & bro jailed for killing her

Bhopal: A young woman, believed to have been murdered nine years ago in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh, has resurfaced alive and well, raising serious questions about the police investigation that landed her father and brother in jail.The bizarre case dates to June 2014 when Kanchan Uike, then 14, went missing from Jopanala village in Chhindwara, around 300km from Bhopal. Her father, Sannu Uike, filed a complaint with police, but despite a long search, Kanchan was not found. After seven years of fruitless searching, the police claimed to have cracked the case, and said Kanchan’s brother, Sonu, had killed her with the help of their father and buried her body in a nearby mango field.With permission from the SDM court, the police conducted an excavation of the area where they suspected Kanchan’s remains to be buried. They found 210 bones, including parts of the skull, hands, and feet, which were sent for DNA testing.According to Kanchan's family, the police had exhumed a skeleton from their own family grave, and assumed they were Kanchan's remains. While the DNA report from the overburdened forensic laboratory at Sagar was pending, police went ahead with the belief that they had found Kanchan’s bones, arrested her brother and father, and charged them with her murder.Police claimed that the duo admitted that Sonu had killed his sister by hitting her on the head with a stick “with the assistance of their father”. Father and son landed behind bars. Sonu is still in prison. The father was granted bail after a year in jail. The family suffered the stigma for years. However, on Wednesday, Kanchan turned up, alive and well.Kanchan, who is now a married woman with two children, says that she left home after a disagreement with her family and travelled to Bhopal before settling in Ujjain. She had no idea that her brother and father had been accused of her murder until she met a man who recognised her while she was visiting her in-laws.After sharing memories of her childhood, her mother confirmed her identity, and told her that her brother was still behind bars. Shocked and distressed, Kanchan immediately went to the police, demanding that her brother be released and compensation be paid to her family.Police now have plenty of explaining to do, and another mystery to investigate – whose remains had they found?