BARIPADA: An elderly woman from a tribal community was reportedly raped and stoned to death in Udala area of Mayurbhanj district on Sunday night.
The deceased was identified as 70-year-old Raibari Singh of Ambikadeipur village. Police have arrested the accused, Raghu Hembram (48) of the same village.
Sources said Singh was living alone in her house. On Sunday night, the accused went to her house for some work and finding the elderly woman alone, sexually assaulted her.
Fearing consequences for his crime, Hembram later brought a stone and hit Singh’s head repeatedly to destroy evidence. While the woman died instantly, he fled the spot. When Singh did not come out of her house on Monday morning, neighbours became suspicious. They reached her house and found the door unlocked. They went inside and found the woman lying dead in a pool of blood.
On being informed, Udala police reached the village for investigation. A scientific team from Baripada also arrived at the crime scene to gather evidence. Police said basing on the statements of villagers, it was confirmed that the accused was seen going to the deceased woman’s house in the night. Subsequently, Singh was taken into custody. During interrogation, he confessed to his crime.
Udala IIC Banamali Barik said a relative of the deceased woman lodged a complaint basing on which police registered a case. The body was sent to Udala sub-divisional hospital for postmortem. The accused has been arrested and will be produced in court on Tuesday. Further investigation is underway, he added.