MALKANGIRI: A 35-year-old man of Mahupadar village in Mathili allegedly hacked a woman to death after the latter claimed he had stolen her fish.
The deceased has been identified as 23-year-old Laxmi Kalar. Police have detained the accused Damu Darua. Mathili IIC Debabrata Mallick said both Darua and Kalar were engaged in fish farming by taking the same pond on lease for the purpose.
“However, Kalar and her sister reached the accused’s house last night and picked a fight with him alleging he had stolen her fish from the pond. Refuting the allegations, Darua said he had only caught three fish he had raised. After some time, Laxmi returned to her house,” the IIC said.
However, Darua reached the deceased’s house again in the morning while she was drying clothes and hacked her to death with an axe over the dispute. Her family members tried taking her to the Mathili sub-divisional hospital but she succumbed on the way due to excessive bleeding, police said.
Based on the complaint lodged by the deceased’s sister Niladri Kalar, police detained Darua for interrogation. The body was handed over to the family after postmortem, the IIC added. Further investigation is underway.