Odisha News: A 13-year-old girl was found hanging hours after she was allegedly beaten up by a neighbour for stealing a marigold sapling in a village in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, police said on Friday. The girl’s family has alleged that their minor daughter was beaten to death by the neighbour who later hung the child’s dead body from the verandah of her house to make it look like a case of suicide.
According to officials, the parents of the tribal girl had gone from Bhaluhuruda village under the Udala police station limits to Bhubaneswar for some work after requesting the neighbour to look after her in their absence.
Giving details, a senior official said the minor girl was supposed to sleep at her neighbour’s house for the night while her parents were away for work in Bhubaneswar.
“It was claimed that on Tuesday evening, the girl uprooted some marigold plants from the house of the neighbour Laxmi Murmu. When Murmu came to know about it the next day, she thrashed the girl, and later the 13-year-old was found hanging by a saree in the verandah of Murmu’s house,” an officer of Udala police station, Laxmikanta Nayak told news agency PTI.
On being informed, the police reached the village, recovered the body and arrested the neighbour, Nayak said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the deceased girl’s parents had received a call from Murmu that their daughter uprooted some marigold plants. Later, they got another call later from Laxmi stating that the teenager had stolen some marigold saplings.
The parents returned home on Thursday morning and accused the neighbour of beating their daughter to death.
When asked whether it was a case of murder or suicide, the police officer said, “Local people have seen Laxmi thrashing the girl. However, the exact cause of the death can be ascertained after getting the post-mortem examination report. We are investigating all angles.”
The body has been handed over to the parents after the autopsy on Friday.
(With PTI inputs)
from Latest News, Breaking News, LIVE News, Top News Headlines, Viral Video, Cricket LIVE, Sports, Entertainment, Business, Health, Lifestyle and Utility News | India.Com https://ift.tt/pgHXq6S