An 18-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly axed to death by her brothers over her love affair with a tribal youth in Jharkhand's Chatra district, police said on Tuesday. The deceased's brothers have absconded after the incident, a police officer said.

Her brothers had allegedly caught her while she was with the tribal youth, and as per his statement, dragged them into a forest near Sehda village and axed her to death, Sadar police station in-charge Bipin Kumar said. The youth said they later tried to kill him as well but he escaped from the spot and later returned to find that the girl was dead.