Odisha couple saves woman from domestic violence, murdered by husband

As per the victim’s family, Sirika used to torture his wife Landi who often visited Kuanri and shared her ordeal.

Representative image

SAMBALPUR: In a gruesome incident, a 55-year-old man hacked a couple to death for allegedly helping his wife to find a job outside Odisha without informing him, in Rairakhol police limits late on Saturday.

The victims were identified as Abraham Kujur (35) and his wife Kuanri (25). They were asleep in their house at Pandirisila village when Kuanri’s brother-in-law Sirika Kirma murdered them in cold blood. The accused was later arrested by police.

As per the victim’s family, Sirika used to torture his wife Landi who often visited Kuanri and shared her ordeal. Landi told the couple that Sirika used to tie her up with ropes and assault her. She even requested Kuanri and Abraham to find her a job outside Odisha so she could escape the domestic violence.

Police said, the couple found Landi a job in Agra and she left around a month back, leaving behind Sirika. However, as she left without informing, Sirika was furious with the couple and even had arguments with them over the issue a few times.

While Sirika nursed a grudge, at around 10:30 pm on Saturday, he entered their house and sneaked into the room where they were sleeping and hacked them to death with a sharp weapon. Though there were five other family members in the house, the accused did not harm anyone else and fled the spot soon after committing the crime. By the time Abraham’s sister-in-law, Erica Kujur rushed to the room the couple was already dead.

“They were sleeping with their two daughters in the room. I woke up after hearing Kuanri screaming. But when I came to check what had happened, I found them in a pool of blood. However, both the children were safe.

Rairakhol SDPO Prasanta Kumar Meher said police went to the spot soon after getting information. A scientific team also reached to collect evidence.

The bodies were seized and sent for postmortem and the accused arrested during the course of the investigation.

“Further investigation is underway and we are trying to ascertain the antecedents of the accused,” Meher said. Police are also yet to recover the murder weapon.