The battered remains of the 19-year-old, whose face had been “smashed beyond recognition”, were found close to her home in the north of India.
Shocked pal Alia Modi, 18, said: "I was walking home through the fields when I saw a body lying on the ground.
"It was covered in blood and when I looked at the face it was so badly damaged I didn’t recognise it as Pratibha’s.
"It was only later that I learnt who it was and I was simply horrified.”
A police spokesman said: "The post-mortem report showed that while the cause of death was strangulation, it appeared that she had been repeatedly struck by bricks and stones.
"Perhaps to hide her identity, some of the blunt force injuries to her face were made after her death, but most weren't.”
"It looks like the brother and father dragged her to the fields and assaulted her with bricks and stones. They then strangled her and went on to smash her face beyond recognition.”
Pratibha’s father Jagpal, 65, and oldest brother Pradeep, 36, were both arrested after police found inconsistencies in their statements.
The police spokesman said: "An analysis of her mobile phone records pointed to the involvement of her family members, in particular the brother and father.
"Initially, her brother Pradeep was questioned and claimed she was killed by her lover.
"It was only later when we interrogated Pradeep and his father Jagpal separately that we were able to find inconsistencies in their statements.
"Eventually they admitted that they had killed her because she was in love with another boy from a nearby village.”
One of the girl’s other brothers Prabhat, 33, said: "I am neither sorry nor surprised that my sister is dead.
"If what people say is true, then I am not surprised that my father and brother killed her."
