DHENKANAL: A 30-year-old daily wage earner allegedly beat his wife to death and later hanged himself from a tree in Parjang area of the district on Saturday night.
The deceased were identified as Ratnakar Naik and his wife Rashmita Naik (28) of Dadaraghati Akhuapal village under Parjang police limits.
Kamakhyanagar sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Chitta Ranjan Behera said both Ratnakar and Rashmita, who have three daughters, were daily wager earners. A fierce quarrel broke out between the couple a month ago after which Rashmita went to live with her parents at Kosala in Angul district. After being persuaded by her husband, she returned to Akhuapal two days ago.
The SDPO said last night, another heated exchange took place between the couple over a domestic issue. In a fit of rage, Ratnakar, who was under the influence of alcohol, allegedly assaulted his wife with a piece of firewood, killing her on the spot. When he realised that Rashmita had died, the accused hanged himself from a mango tree outside his house late in the night, said Behera.
On being informed about the incident, the SDPO along with Parjang IIC Subrat Sahu rushed to the spot for investigation on Sunday morning. The bodies were sent to the local hospital for postmortem.
Ratnakar’s sister Jamuna lodged a complaint with police based on which a case of murder has been registered. Further investigation is underway, Behera added.
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