Baleshwar: A celebratory birthday turned into a scene of tragedy and controversy in Baleshwar’s Sahadevkhunta area, where a man was found dead under suspicious circumstances. His family has levelled serious allegations against his wife and her alleged paramour, claiming the incident was not a suicide as initially reported, but a calculated murder.
The victim, identified as Rashmi Ranjan Sethi, a junior engineer who resided in Bhubaneswar for work, had traveled to Baleshwar to surprise his wife, Rashmi Rekha Bhuyan, for her birthday on July 16. The deceased’s brother, Pabitra Kumar Sethi, revealed that the family initially received a phone call from the wife’s brother claiming that Rashmi Ranjan had died by suicide by hanging himself. However, the victim’s family has strongly rejected the suicide narrative, labelling the incident a well-orchestrated, pre-planned murder committed by the wife with the assistance of her alleged lover. Their suspicion intensified when Rashmi Rekha’s phone was found switched off, making it impossible for the victim’s grieving family to reach her directly.
According to the family, the couple had been married for three years, but their relationship had been strained by frequent disputes over an alleged extramarital affair of Rashmi Rekha, who works with the National Health Mission (NHM) department in Balasore, with an assistant engineer. They started living separately after Rashmi Ranjan was allegedly assaulted and threatened by his wife and her male associate. Relatives, who examined the body, noted physical signs of a struggle, pointing out multiple injury marks on the victim’s neck and severe swelling near his ear, leading them to suspect he was murdered before the scene was staged to look like a suicide.
The victim’s family, who are residents of Jagatsinghpur district, lodged a formal complaint alleging conspiracy and murder.
Sahadevkhunta police station IIC Alok Kumar Behera confirmed that an FIR has been registered based on the family’s allegations. The body has since been shifted to Baleshwar District Headquarters Hospital and sent for postmortem. While investigation is underway from all possible angles, police have detained his wife, and are analysing call records to ascertain the timeline of events.
