Bhubaneswar: Mystery shrouded the death of a 26-year-old woman after she fell off the terrace of a hotel near Panchasakha Nagar in the early hours of Thursday under suspicious circumstances. The mishap occurred in the presence of the deceased woman’s partner, within Khandagiri police station limits. Khandagiri Police Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) Abhimanyu Das identified the deceased as Sonali Mohaptra, a native of Nayagarh district. She worked at a micro-financing firm in the City. Sonali spoke with her mother, Wednesday, informing the latter about her migraine.
Later, Sonali is guessed to have shared her ailing health condition with her mother. It is learnt that during the call Sonali did not flag up any distressed condition. Alleging a foul play in the investigation, Sonali’s mother said the former was pushed from the hotel’s terrace by her partner Bibhuti Pratihary over an argument. Last time during the call, Sonali did not show any signs of distress. “Around 1am Thursday, Bibhuti called me, and informed Sonali is no more. Upon enquiry, Bibhuti said she slipped while she went to the roof to fetch water. Later, he hung up”, her mother added.
Sources in the Khandagiri Police, said the couple has been staying in a live-in relationship for quite some time. Few months ago, they had taken the room on the hotel for rent at Rs 20,000 per month. A purported video of the incident, which made round on the social media Wednesday, showed Bibhuti immediately rushing to the hotel’s ground floor after the mishap. Das said Khandagiri Police is questioning Bibhuti in connection with the incident. However, the cops have not booked anyone in the case so far.
