A woman was allegedly strangled to death at Jaripatna village under Mancheswar Police limits on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. The incident came to light when the family members of the deceased lodged a police complaint on Thursday, accusing her husband and in-laws of murdering her for dowry.
The deceased has been identified as Laxmipriya Mohanty, wife of Prabhat Parida, a resident of Jaripatna area.
According to the family members of the deceased, Laxmipriya of Diha Sahi in Jagatsinghpur married Prabhat two years ago. After marriage, her in-laws were allegedly pressurising her to bring more dowry and torturing her physically.
On Wednesday, they received a phone call from Prabhat, informing them that Laxmipriya was not well.
On reaching her house, they were shocked to see Laxmipriya’s lifeless body lying on the ground and her husband, father-in-law and mother-in-law not present in the house.
Accusing her husband and in-laws of murdering her over dowry, the bereaved family members lodged a complaint at Mancheswar Police Station, demanding justice.
“He (Prabhat) and his parents killed my daughter. I want justice,” said the deceased’s father.
“They had been torturing my sister. On two to three occasions, finding the torture unbearable, she had come to us. Each time, they took her back, promising us that they wouldn’t torture her anymore. They asked her to snap the relationship with us. They have killed my sister for dowry,” said the victim's brother.
On being informed, the police along with a scientific team reached the spot and sent the body for post-mortem. The scientific team collected evidence from the crime scene.
Meanwhile, on the basis of the complaint, police have lodged a murder case and launched a manhunt for absconding Prabhat and his parents.
When contacted, ACP, Zone-5, Sanjeev Satpathy said, “On the basis of the complaint lodged by the family members, two cases -a dowry torture case and a murder case- have been registered. We are looking into all possible angles of the case. Prabhat Parida and his family members have been absconding. The motive behind the murder can be ascertained only after their arrest.”
(Reported by Alok Mohanty, OTV)