Tankadhar settled down with four more women before marrying Nila but three of them had run away from him
Nabarangpur/Kodinga: In a gruesome incident, a man first killed his wife and five-month-old daughter then burnt their bodies pouring kerosene on them.
The incident, said to be an outcome of a domestic feud, was reported from a village of Chirma panchayat under Kodinga police limits of Kosagumuda block in Nabarangapur district Thursday.
The deceased were identified as Nila, wife of Tankadhar Bhatra and her daughter Bharati. Nila was Tankadhar’s fifth wife and the duo has a three-year-old son, Debi.
While Nila’s brother Kesab Bhatra lodged a complaint against Tankadhar with Kodinga police, the accused said he was not involved in the case.
Meanwhile, police detained accused Tankadhar. A police team comprising Papadahandi SDPO Bijay Kumar Nayak, Kodinga IIC Krushnachandra Bhatra, ASI Dilip Kumar Behera, additional tehsildar Debi Prasad Rout began a probe. The bodies were still burning when the probe team reached the scene. A forensic team from Koraput was also pressed into service, it was learnt.
According to the villagers, Tankadhar and Nila ran a strained relationship as the former claimed that he had not fathered the girl. He fought with his wife when she was pregnant, forcing the latter to deliver a child at her parents’ house. Tankadhar didn’t bring his wife and daughter home. Worse, he lodged a complaint with police against Nila over her alleged infidelity. The woman too approached the village sarpanch alleging she was being tortured by her husband.
The two started living together after the issue was resolved three months back at the panchayat level. The villagers said Tankadhar’s first wife had also died under suspicious condition though he claims she had died of dysentery. Tankadhar had a daughter with his first wife who now lives in Anlabhatta village after being ill-treated by her father.
Tankadhar, a follower of Mahima religion, settled down with three more women before marrying Nila but all of them had run away from him. Tankadhar was torturing them, alleged the trio.
Tankadhar, who runs a small grocery shop in the village, said he came to know from a fellow villager about the incident when he along with his son was in his shop and informed the police.
PNN