The Odisha Police have arrested class 8 girl student and her two male friends from Gajapati district on Friday for allegedly murdering a woman who adopted the girl after rescuing her from a roadside when she was just three days old, PTI quoted a police officer as saying.
According to the report, as quoted by the police, on 29 April the girl and her friends smothered the woman — identified as 54-year-old Rajalaxmi Kar — at her rented house in Paralakhemundi town.
The police claimed the motive was allegedly her opposition to the girl’s relationship with the two young men and to gain control of her property.
Following the crime, the accused fabricated a story claiming Rajalaxmi had died of a heart attack.
On 30 April, the accused cremated her body in Bhubaneswar, where some of her relatives resided.
Since the victim had a history of heart disease, her kin , including her brother, believed the fabricated story, Gajapati SP Jatindra Kumar Panda said.
The incident came to light when girl’s uncle found her hidden mobile phone in Bhubaneswar, which contained Instagram Messenger chats with the two co-accused detailing their plan to murder Rajalaxmi and loot over 70 grams of gold ornaments along with ₹60,000 in cash.
After the discovery, the deceased’s brother Siba Prasad Mishra lodged an FIR at Paralakhemundi police station last Wednesday.
The police arrested the three accused — temple priest Ganesh Rath (21), Dinesh Sahu (20), both from Paralakhemundi, and the deceased’s 13-year-old adopted daughter.
About the case:
Police stated Rajalaxmi had adopted the girl after rescuing her as an abandoned infant in Bhubaneswar.
The report added that after the girl got admission at Kendriya Vidyalaya in Paralakhemundi, the two shifted there and rented a house.
When the girl developed a relationship with Rath and Sahu, her mother opposed it. But Rath allegedly instigated the girl to murder Rajalaxmi to seize her property and continue their relationship.
On the evening of 29 April, the girl reportedly administered sleeping pills to Rajalaxmi.
When the victim was unconscious, she summoned her two friends, who smothered the woman with pillows. She was taken to the hospital, where doctors declared her dead, said the police.
Prior to the murder, the girl had some of Rajalaxmi’s gold ornaments to Rath, who pawned them at a private finance company for around ₹2.4 lakh.
He reportedly used the money to buy a motorcycle and travel across the state.
Police, during the probe, recovered three mobile phones containing incriminating Instagram chat messages, two pillows used in the murder, and around 30 grams of the looted gold ornaments.
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