Berhampur: A young pregnant woman was allegedly murdered while she was staging a protest at her in-laws’ house in Odisha’s Ganjam district on Tuesday. The incident occurred at Kharida village under Hinjli police limits.
According to sources, 23-year-old Pooja Swain and Chintu Gouda had eloped from home and got married three years back, after connecting on social media and falling in love. They had a 3-year-old daughter, and were expecting another child. Recently, their relationship got sour after Chintu became physically abusive. He reportedly took her and their daughter at Berhampur railway station under the pretext of travelling to Surat in Gujarat. However, he fled after abandoning them there.
Pooja, who was four months pregnant, approached Berhampur and Hinjli police for help. She had been sitting on a dharna outside her in-laws’ house along with her child, demanding justice since the last two days. Her protest came to light when media highlighted her plight.
While her in-laws had locked the house and left due to the dharna, Pooja was allegedly suddenly violently attacked by her brother-in-law, who hacked her to death. She reportedly died on the spot, in front of her daughter.
Hinjli police reached the spot and rescued the child. They have sent Pooja’s body for post-mortem and launched an investigation.
