ANGUL: Rengali police on Wednesday detained an elderly couple after exhuming a highly-decomposed body of their 35-year-old son from Baisamunda forest near Arikil village.
The deceased was identified as Sanjiv Behera of Arikil village. His father Muralidhar Behera (60) is believed to have killed him in a fit of rage while mother Kanchan Behera (55) helped bury the body.
Police said that Sanjiv had two wives and had been staying separately from his parents in the same village since the past one year. Tension prevailed between the two families after he separated from his parents.
On May 9, police said, Sanjiv had gone to his father’s house for some work. There, he had a heated argument with Muralidhar over some issue. During the altercation, in a fit of rage, he reportedly attacked Kanchan with an axe, injuring her. Enraged over the incident, Muralidhar reportedly snatched the axe from Sanjiv and struck him repeatedly on the head, killing him on the spot.
After the incident, his parents reportedly carried the body to the nearby Baisamunda forest and buried it there. In the evening, when Sanjiv’s second wife, Radharani, came to enquire about her husband, Muralidhar reportedly told her that they had killed him and buried the body in the jungle.
Radha fled to her paternal house at Motanga the same day and informed her family about the incident. The family remained silent till Monday, after which they informed Motanga police, which in turn alerted Rengali police. Motanga police on Tuesday sent Radharani to Rengali police station, where she narrated the entire incident.
A murder case was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by Radha. Police recovered the exhumed body from the forest and sent it to Pabitra Mohan Medical College and Hospital at Talcher for forensic medical and toxicology (FMT) test. The couple has been detained and further investigation is on, police said.