In a bone-chilling incident, a divyang man was allegedly beaten to death by his stepmother after he expressed his wish to get married. The woman was reportedly helped by her husband (the victim’s father) in the heinous crime.
The deceased has been identified as Bijay Pradhan of Patharapunja village under Daspalla police limits in Nayagarh district.
According to sources, Bijay was physically disabled and was around 35 years of age. So, he decided to get married and expressed his wish to his family members. While all his relatives wanted him to get married and settle down, his stepmother feared he would claim all the property after marriage and did not want him to get married.
However, Bijay wanted to get married and start a new life. This did not go well with his stepmother, who allegedly beat him up and deprived him of food for months.
However, a fight broke out over the issue once again Saturday night following which the women allegedly beat him up leading to his death. She was also helped by her husband and own sons, relatives alleged.
A relative said, “They thought he would grab all the property after marriage as he was the stepson. So, they did not want him to get married and beat him to death.”
Similarly, a local said, “He wanted to marry and had expressed his wish to his uncle and aunty. However, both his parents were against his marriage. They feared he would demand his share of the property because his stepmother wanted her own sons to own all the property. So, they cunningly beat him to death.”
However, the stepmother refuted the allegations and said that she was being falsely implicated by her relatives.
(Reported by Sanjeeb Sahu, OTV)