Bhubaneswar: In a fresh twist to the sensational murder of homemaker Priyanka Priyadarshini at Bhimatangi in the city on Monday, the mother of the accused has allegedly claimed that the victim was into a relationship with her son even after her marriage.
Speaking to OTV, accused Jagannath Pradhan's mother Sabitri claimed that both Jagannath and Priyadarshini were into a relationship which snapped after she got married.
A few years later, the victim (Priyanka Priyadarshini) had called Jagannath following which their relationship had come alive again, Sabitri said.
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“After her (Priyanka) marriage, my son had never come in her contact nor did he cause any problem to her. My son always prayed God for her happiness. There was not contact between them for a long period. In the meantime, she gave birth to a son,” Sabitri said.
“After a long gap, the woman had first contacted my son from her side. Yesterday, my son left for Bhubaneswar without telling me the reason of his visit. If I knew his intensions, I would not have allowed him to go to Bhubaneswar,” Sabitri said with teary eyes.
Before leaving for Bhubaneswar on the fateful day, Jagannath reportedly posted a message in the family Whatsapp group mentioning ‘my life was spoiled. I loved her very much. I don’t want to live without her.’
According to reports, Jagannath had developed love affair with Priyanka long back while he was studying at Dharmasala College in Jajpur. After Priyanka’s marriage, Jagannath had left for Bangalore and started working there at a private company. However, he had returned home last year due to the country-wide lockdown during the first wave of the Covid pandemic.
They probably came in contact a few months after Jagannath’s return from Bangalore, reports said.
It is suspected that a sore relationship developed between them for some reasons which lead to the ghastly crime.
Jagannath had planned to commit suicide after eliminating Priyanka and her three-old-year son.
Priyanka’s son, however, luckily escaped sure death by whisker as he had gone upstairs to the landlord’s house when the accused allegedly committed the gruesome murder. Jagannath was also rescued in a critical condition from the crime spot where Priyanka’s body was lying in a pool of blood.
According to police, the deceased’s husband Rakesh Sahu had left for office at 9 am today after which the accused committed the crime. The accused had made a video call to Rakesh after the murder in an apparent attempt to show the gory act. As Rakesh could not take the call, the assailant then sent a photograph of Priyadarshini lying in a pool of blood. An anxious Rakesh then made a call to his landlord, requesting the latter to inquire what had happened in the house.
Notably, both accused and victim were hailing from Kuakhia area in Jajpur district.