Berhampur: A 57-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly setting her landlord on fire in Odisha’s Ganjam district, a police officer said Sunday.
The woman, a widow, allegedly killed the landlord, a retired revenue inspector, by pouring kerosene on him and setting him ablaze Thursday at Subash Nagar under Baidyanathpur police limits in Berhampur, in a bid to seize his property, police said.
The deceased was identified as Harihar Sahu, 72, while the accused was named as Sudeshna Jena of Amrutul in Sorada. The two had been living alone—Sahu on the first floor and Jena on the ground floor of the same house. Jena’s two daughters live separately, one in Hyderabad and the other in Ambapua, Berhampur, police added.
In the early hours of Thursday, Jena allegedly entered Sahu’s room while he was asleep, poured kerosene on him, and set him on fire. Police said she had free access to his room.
Sahu was initially rushed to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur and later shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Describing the act as a premeditated murder, SP (Berhampur) Saravana Vivek M said the accused attempted to destroy evidence by throwing the deceased’s mobile phone into the courtyard and tossing the plastic kerosene bottle into the fire.
She then pretended to rescue him with help from neighbors and falsely claimed that two unidentified men had entered the house and set him on fire.
Later that morning, Jena informed the deceased’s daughter, who rushed to the hospital in Berhampur and then to Cuttack. The case took a turn when, during treatment, Sahu reportedly told his daughter that someone had poured kerosene on him and set him on fire.
Following this, his daughter, Madhusmita Sahu, filed an FIR at Baidyanathpur police station on Thursday.
“In order to grab his property, the accused murdered the deceased in a well-planned manner by setting him on fire at night,” the SP said.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Jena and the deceased had been in a relationship for the past five years. Police also said that Sahu often invited her for sexual activities, sometimes against her will, and that she had her eyes on his property, given his background as a retired revenue inspector.
PTI
