Woman arrested for killing nine-year-old niece in Ganjam

Berhampur: Police Thursday arrested a woman for allegedly killing her nine-year-old niece in Odisha’s Ganjam district, officials said.

The incident took place at Laxmanapalli, near Chhamunda village, under Jagannath Prasad police station limits of the district Wednesday.

The victim’s mother alleged that after committing the murder, the woman wrapped the body in a plastic sheet and dumped it in an abandoned latrine room, located behind her home.

The police recovered the body late Wednesday evening and said the preliminary investigation has revealed that the woman killed the nine-year-old girl out of jealousy, as she has no children, even after three years of marriage.

The accused was identified as Bidyabharati (26), wife of Ganesh Moharana, a resident of Laxmanapalli, the police said.

According to the police, the deceased, a resident of Kanakuturu village near Buguda in Ganjam district, was staying in Bhubaneswar along with her mother and a sister for the last several years.

On Wednesday, the woman and her two daughters came to her brother’s home for a medical check-up. The woman, along with her brother, went to her residence at Kanakuturu for some medical issues, a police officer said.

After returning home, they did not find their daughter, even though they searched for her intensively and informed the police. During the search, the police found the body from the abandoned latrine.

After taking their food, two sisters went to play with their friends near the house at about 10.30 am. The deceased again came home at about 1.30 pm and asked her aunt (the accused) for food. Since she was angry and jealous of her mother, she throttled the girl with a cloth when no one was in the home, Ganjam SP Suvendu Patra said.

During the interrogation, the accused woman confessed to the crime. She was also angry with her husband for allegedly not taking her for a medical checkup for her pregnancy issue, whereas he has taken his sister (deceased’s mother) for a medical checkup, said Bhanjanagar sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Deepak Kumar Mishra.