Wounded Body Of Senior Citizen Woman Found At Home In Odisha’s Berhampur, Murder Motive Unclear

Mystery shrouds the death of a senior citizen whose body was recovered from her house in Alakapuri area under Sadar Police limits of Berhampur on Thursday. The deceased elderly woman has been identified as Suraja Behera.

Though it was initially suspected that Suraja was killed by some miscreants during a suspected loot bid, senior police officials said that the exact motive behind the murder is still unclear as all articles and valuables inside the house were found to be intact.

Even the gold ornaments worn by the victim were found on her. It is suspected that the victim was murdered with a sharp (cutting) weapon as there were multiple injury marks on her body. Some neighbours along with the husband of the deceased spotted Suraja’s body lying in a pool of blood on Thursday evening. However, they had to break the lock to gain entry into the house as it had been locked from outside.

“I had gone out for evening walk and my wife was alone at home. When I returned, I found the house locked from outside. Though I tried to call my wife over mobile phone, she did not pick the phone. Later, I informed my son and daughter about the mysterious disappearance of my wife,” said Bijay Behera, husband of the deceased.

According to Behera, he sought help from his neighbours to break the lock after he failed to contact his wife. They later spotted Suraja’s body and informed the police.

“I got a call in the evening from my father saying that my mother was incommunicado. He then called some neighbours, broke the door lock and found my mother lying in pool of blood. No valuable was looted from the house,” said deceased’s son Rashmi who works in Bhubaneswar.

Berhampur SP, Pinak Mishra said, “Preliminary investigation suggests that no property had been looted. Even the gold ornaments on the body of the deceased were found intact. Our investigation is underway and all aspects will be investigated.”