In Odisha, a man murdered his wife and mother-in-law and buried their bodies behind the house and then planted a banana tree.
By Princy Kashyap
In Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, a man first murdered his wife and mother-in-law and then buried their bodies behind his house. After this, he also planted a banana tree at that place. The police have arrested the accused Devashish. According to reports, the deceased have been identified as 55-year-old Sumati Dali and 23-year-old Sonali Dali. Devashis used to work as a pharmacist at Kuliana Community Health Centre. In the complaint lodged with the police it was told that on 19th July Devashish killed his wife Sonali and mother-in-law Sumati by hitting them with a stone. After the murders to hide both the bodies he dug a pit behind the house and buried the bodies there. After this he did not plant a single banana tree there so that no one could suspect but due to the vigilance of the villagers this conspiracy was exposed.
A neighbor from Nuagaon told India Today that he saw that a banana tree had suddenly been planted behind his house. The soil also did not seem to be filled with water, when we put an iron rod there and a foul smell came from there, then we realized that something is wrong.
Actually Sonali and her mother were missing since 19th July, Devashish himself had reported this to the police. He had said that his wife and mother-in-law were missing for 15 days but the family members and the villagers were suspecting a conspiracy in this disappearance right from the beginning. A relative of Sonali told that when we first complained at the police station the inspector there did not take our words seriously, he even said that the lady was driving a car and might have run away with someone, later 20 to 25 of us together reached the spot and when the excavation was done then the whole matter came to light.
On receiving information from the villagers, Kuliyana police went to the spot and got the excavation done. The police and forensic team excavated both the corpses using JCB machine and took them out. After this the police took Devashish into custody and started the investigation. The police officer told that during the investigation Devashish confessed to the murder. After the murder the body was buried and a banana tree was planted so that no one could suspect.
The body has been sent for post mortem, the accused has been arrested and is being interrogated. During the investigation it has also come to light that this was Devashish’s second marriage, his first marriage was with a health worker woman but due to domestic disputes the matter reached the court. He married Sonali 2 years ago. Police says that this double murder was committed due to ongoing tension and domestic disputes in the family, however police is probing the matter more deeply to know the real reason of the murders.
This case has also raised questions on the working style of police. Relatives allege that if the police had taken the initial complaint seriously then the case would have been solved earlier. Currently the police has arrested Devashish and has started preparations to present him in the court.