Bhawanipatna: In a shocking incident, a 60-year-old woman was chased in full public view and hacked to death with an axe over sorcery suspicion by a man and his son Monday noon. In a bid to save her mother, a youth also faced the wrath of the miscreants and was left battling for his life. The deceased was identified as Sabe Nag and injured as Yudhishtir Nag.
The incident was reported from Nuagaon village under Sadar police limits in Kalahandi district. The father-son duo was on the run after the incident and a manhunt was launched to nab them. Police identified them as Gagan Putel and his son Chabir Putel, neighbours of the deceased. Police reached the village and admitted Yudhishtir to the district headquarters hospital. The body was seized and sent for post-mortem.
According to sources, a there was a rift between Putel and Nag families over suspicion that the latter was practicing sorcery. Their fight took an ugly turn when the duo attacked Sabe with an axe. On learning the incident, Yudhisthir tried in vain to rescue his mother. Assuming the two were dead, the duo fled the village. However, locals rescued Yudhisthir and rushed him to the Bhawanipatna DHH. The two were shifted to Cuttack-based SCB Medical College and Hospital for further treatment as their condition got worsened.
Ironically, no villagers turned up to save the mother and son. On orders of Kalahandi SP Madkar Sandeep Sampat, Bhawanipatna SDPO Biranchi Narayan Dehuri and Sadar IIC Rajkishore Das reached the village and took stock of the situation. PNN
