Bhubaneswar: Mother of Pushpalata Raul (28), whose headless body was found on the outskirts of the city on February 4, said that she identified her daughter after she came across the photographs of the body released by the police in a newspaper that helped police unravel the murder mystery.
On Thursday, the Commissionerate Police claimed to have solved the mystery surrounding her murder by arresting the two accused, while Commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi said the crime was borne out of marital discord.
Speaking to OTV on Friday, Minati Barik, mother of the victim, said “After getting information from some of my acquaintances that Pushpalata had gone incommunicado and her mobile phone was switched off, I rushed to Bhubaneswar to enquire. In the meantime, I came across the photograph (released by the police) of a headless body published in a newspaper. From the tattoo on the victim’s hand and a shawl lying near the body, I identified the same as my daughter.”
She said she then rushed to the Chandaka police and disclosed her daughter’s identity. “I then cooperated with the police for the next four days in the investigation,” she added.
Police said that Puspalata had been strangulated to death over some marital discord on February 3. Her head was severed and dumped along the Bharatpur-Chandaka road in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The severed head was disposed of some 2 kms away from the body. The remains of the head were recovered from an elephant trench after two accused- Sanjay alias Angad Das and Srikant Das alias Chandu were held after a detailed probe.
Meanwhile, Minati demanded death penalty for the accused.
“The accused should be hanged to death,” said Minati.
Throwing light on her daughter’s relationship with prime accused, Sanjay, Minati said, “Though my daughter was living with Sanjay he did not give her food. He would give her just Rs 10 per day. I used to give Puspalata Rs 2000-3000 per month for her living,” said Minati adding that she had disowned her daughter after the latter abandoned her first husband Pritiranjan Pati and two daughters.
Sources privy to the investigation of the case said that Puspalata had developed intimacy with Sanjay who initially lived at her residence on rent. Puspalata allegedly became close to Sanjay following her husband’s death.
Sanjay, Minati said, knew Pushpalata since the past eight years. Though Puspalata started living at Tarini Nagar basti at Bharatpur, she would frequently visit him. A month ago Puspalata again started living with Sanjay, police said.
Later, Pusplata got married to Pritiranjan and started living with him at Chakeseini area. However, she again left Pritiranjan and started living with Sanjay.
Following some dispute on February 3, Sanjay allegedly strangulated Puspalata to death and with the help of his friend Srikanta planned to dispose of the body. The duo then bought a pair of surgical gloves and knife from Ainginia market. They then allegedly severed the head and disposed of the body along Bharatpur-Chandaka road.