Four people have been arrested in connection with the murder of a woman at Jugial village in Hajipur tehsil of Hoshiarpur district, police said on Tuesday.

The body of the woman, identified as Sunita, was recovered from the forest near the village on March 23.

Deputy superintendent of police Vipin Kumar said the woman had been killed by accused Rahul and his live-in partner, Gulshan, who wanted to adopt Sunita’s five-month-old son.

“The accused couple had met Sunita and her husband Ravi through a neighbour, Narinder Bhatia, and wanted to adopt their child,” the DSP said, adding that Sunita was reluctant to give her child to the childless couple.

On March 23, the accused called Sunita to a shrine, where they snatched her child and strangulated her after hitting her with a stone, the DSP said.

“On receiving a complaint, we arrested Ravi, Gulshan, Narinder Bhatia and his wife Narinder, the latter two because they forced Sunita to give away her son. The child was also recovered and handed over to his father,” the DSP said.

He said that a case of murder and conspiracy was registered against the accused at Hajipur police station.