BHUBANESWAR: A man allegedly killed his wife and stayed with the body with his children around for three days before it was found out and the dead body recovered by police on Thursday.
The incident occurred at Tarini Nagar in Salia Sahi slum of the city on Tuesday. The accused Golak Bihari Jena (42), a house painter by vocation, allegedly killed his wife Swapna (40) with a wooden plank. He then covered her body in a blanket and kept it in one of the rooms in their house. He closed the room and used the other room with his two children - a six-ear-old son and seven-year-old daughter.
The children did not get a whiff of their father’s deed as he had told them that she had gone out. However, Golak’s luck ran out as the couple’s elder son Jeevan (19) returned from their native village in Ganjam district on Wednesday evening. When he inquired about his mother, Golak claimed he had no knowledge about her whereabouts.
On Thursday morning, Jeevan detected a foul smell emanating from one of the rooms. He opened the room and found his mother’s body. Golak then confessed he had killed Swapna three days back. Jeevan then informed the locals and the police were alerted of the crime.
Police said, Golak had allegedly killed Swapna in a fit of rage after an altercation. He had reportedly given Rs 7,000 to Swapna for managing the household expenses. But Swapna allegedly spent a major chunk of it on booze.
On Tuesday, he found Swapna in an inebriated state at a field near their house. He brought her home and asked about the money he had given earlier in the day. He found that Swapna had only Rs 1,400 with her and this led to a heated exchange of words between them, police said.
“Golak and his wife were both addicted to alcohol and used to have frequent arguments over petty issues. A case has been registered and the accused arrested. Further investigation is underway,” said an officer of Maitri Vihar police station.