Bhubaneswar: A marital discord took a tragic turn at Chakeisiani under Mancheswar police limits in Bhubaneswar, where a 33-year-old man allegedly murdered his wife before attempting suicide by consuming poison.
According to sources, the accused, identified as Pradeep Jena, a native of Nayagarh district working as a carpenter and glazier, attacked his 26-year-old wife, Monika Jena, at her rented residence in Sahoo Colony following a heated altercation.
The couple married in 2019 and are parents to a seven-year-old son. They, however, had been living separately in the capital city for the past two years due to frequent quarrels. Monika was residing in Chakeisiani with her mother, Satyabhama, and elder brother, both daily-wage workers. The woman had shifted to the new rented accommodation in Chakeisiani after her husband allegedly forcibly took away their son about two months back, her family said, adding that he had a history of violent behaviour, leading to a prior complaint lodged against him at Ranpur police station.
Pradeep, however, tracked them down and visited the locality about 15 days back. The violent assault took place when Monika was home alone while her family members were away at work. Pradeep barged into the house last evening, strangled her with a towel, slashed her left wrist, and possibly force-feeding her poison, as she was later found frothing at the mouth. He then bolted the door from the outside and fled the scene. Upon returning home, Monika’s mother found the locked door and alerted neighbours, who broke inside to find Monika lying in a pool of blood. She was rushed to a nearby private hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Police noted that she identified her husband as the assailant in her dying statement. A manhunt was subsequently launched, and Pradeep was apprehended in an auto-rickshaw in Mancheswar industrial area with a poison bottle still in his hand. He was then rushed to a medical facility in critical condition.
Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena confirmed that a forensic scientific team has collected evidence from the crime scene, and formal legal proceedings and arrest will take place once the accused recovers and is discharged from the hospital.