PATNA, Oct. 18 -- In two separate incidents, one woman and one minor girl were cremated at the doorsteps of the accused after their alleged murders, people and police aware of the developments said. The acts, according to the kin of the deceased, were to shame the culprits and their families. One of the deceased, Gunja Kumari, 19, was from Muzaffarpur district, while the minor, 12, was from Gopalganj. According to reports and accounts of the kin, Gunja from Rajwara Dih village, fell in love with one Kundan Kumar, eloped and married him on January 23, 2026. Kumar, according to police, is the son of Chandan Paswan, a man with political clout in the area. According to family members of Gunja, Kundan and family slowly started to torture Gunja for dowry, and finally, she was found dead in her home on Thursday, October 15. Her uncle said that their family was informed of her death through a local ward member and that her in-laws were planning to cremate her without postmortem. "We rushed to her house and found injury marks on her body. She was constantly tormented for dowry. We were ourselves preparing to offer her dowry and were only waiting for the occasion of Dhanteras. She meanwhile has been killed for the same before that," he told HT. On getting information we reached the spot and found injury marks on her neck. After marriage she was tortured and harassed for dowry. Three months ago she had left her in-laws' home. Subsequently, after the panchayat's summons, Chandan brought her to his native place. We are preparing to give dowry on the occasion of upcoming Dhanteras. Despite this our daughter was killed for dowry," he added. The SHO of Muffasil police station Subodh Mehta said an FIR has been registered against five members on the charges of dowry and murder. Those booked include Kundan, Chandan, his wife Sulekha Devi, sister Priyanka Devi and their father. He added that the police were searching for the accused. Gunja's parents, relatives and co-villagers, however, decided to cremate her right in front of her in-law's house to disgrace the accused. They prepared the pyre and cremated her after receiving her body after post-mortem. The police said they were unaware of the cremation. In Gopalganj, a 12-year-old schoolgirl who was missing since Monday afternoon was found dead at some distance from her house at Khanpur Azmat village under Thave police station limits. Family members said the girl had serious injuries on her body. "Even her finger was found cut and one of her hands was broken, besides injury marks on her neck," said a family member. Her parents accused a neighbour of her murder. The accused has been absconding. Her parents and some villagers built a pyre on the stairs of the front gate of the accused's house and cremated the body. The cremation became talk of the town. Meanwhile, the police were yet to arrest the accused....