Bhubaneswar: Ten persons, including 8 women, have been arrested in Odisha’s Gajapati district for the murder of a 60-year-old man accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting widows of their village.
The deceased has been identified as Kambi Malik, a resident of Kuihuru village under Mohana police limits.
According to sources, the incident took place on the night of June 3 after Kambi allegedly raped a 52-year-old widow. Some women, including victims of his previous sexual assaults, later held a meeting and decided to kill him.. They went to the man’s house and hacked him to death while he was asleep. The body was then taken to a forested hillock about 2 km away and burned.
“The 52-year-old widow hacked the man to death with the help of other survivors. Two men also assisted the women,” said Mohana police station in-charge Basant Sethi.
The matter came to light only five days later after his family filed a missing person’s complaint with Mohana police, which then launched an investigation and recovered human remains including bones and ashes from the forested area.
“The deceased had been a widower for four years and had allegedly assaulted several women during that period. At least six of the arrested women have said they were victims of sexual assault,” he added.
Gajapati SP Jatindra Kumar Panda said that the women had never sought police help or lodged any complaint against the deceased.
