‘Honour Killing’ In Odisha’s Puri: Family Buried Minor Girl & Then Cremated Her; Know Why

Puri: Two days after the arrest of six members of a family from Odisha’s Talajanga village in connection with the death of a 17-year-old girl, Puri Police have revealed more details about the incident.

According to Chandanpur IIC Abhimanyu Nayak, the deceased had eloped with her lover of the same village. Following a complaint, police traced and handed them over to their family members. “Preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased girl was physically tortured by her family members following the incident,” he added.

According to the complaint lodged by Kumuda Pradhan (58), owner of a mango orchard of the village, the family members secretly buried her body in his orchard after she committed suicide around 2 am on March 20. As stray dogs had devoured some portions of the body, he questioned the family members about it the following morning. They allegedly went to his orchard again late on March 22 and exhumed the half-eaten body of the deceased and cremated it twice. As the body did not burn completely, they again buried the half-burnt body.

The IIC said the villagers asked him to lodge a complaint with the police which he did on March 26.

“Acting on the complaint, police rushed to the village for an on-the-spot investigation and recovered the bones and ashes from the orchard,” the IIC informed.

Asked about the incident, Puri Sadar SDPO Kishore Mund said the police have registered a case under Sections 306, 201, 176 and 34 of the IPC and arrested six family members Gedu Jena alias Kuna (19), Jagabandhu Jena (58), Duryodhan Jena (63), Sankareswar Jena (28), Tuna Jena (30) and Bikram Prasad Jena (20).

The SDPO said that the bones and ashes of the deceased will be sent for a DNA test.

Also Read: Police Arrest Six Of Family In Suspected Honour Killing Case In Odisha’s Puri