Odisha: Couple Hacked to Death by Villagers on Suspicion of Practicing Witchcraft
BHUBANESWAR: Unidentified miscreants on Monday night allegedly hacked a couple to death at Godapanka village in Odisha’s Gajapati district, sources said on Tuesday.
The deceased were identified as Kapilendra Mallick and his wife Sasmita.
As per reports, two-three miscreants broke into the house of Kapilendra late in the night and attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon. As his wife Sasmita raised an alarm for help, the miscreants also killed her on the spot.
Though the exact cause of the double murder is yet to be ascertained, it is suspected to be a fallout of past enmity over practicing sorcery.
On being informed, the local Adaba police reached the spot and started an investigation into the incident.
In February this year, some miscreants had opened fire at Kapilendra in. It was then suspected that he was attacked on suspicion of practicing witchcraft.
The police visited the spot early on Tuesday morning and took some people into custody for interrogation in connection with the ghastly crimes.
“The miscreants hacked my sister’s husband mercilessly to death. When my sister raised an alarm for help and tried to call police, they also chased and hacked her to death,” said Saraswati Mallick, sister of Sasmita.
In another gruesome incident, a minor boy was bludgeoned to death in Kacharapulia area under Tangarpali police station in Sundargarh district.
The deceased was a student of an English medium school.
The investigating police officials were yet to identify the culprit.
The local Tangarpali police reached the spot and started an investigation into the incident.
“The boy was missing since Sunday. He had come from his father’s shop to watch the immersion procession of Lord Ganesh. However, when he didn’t return home, we had filed a missing report at the police station,” said a relative of the deceased.
“The boy had gone out with some of his friends. When he refused to give them money for some reason, they killed him. One of the boys among them has confessed to the crime and he has been arrested,” the relative, quoting police sources, informed.
