Loisingha: In a shocking incident, a man has killed his wife as a human sacrifice while allegedly performing rituals to attain special powers in witchcraft at Chamarapada village under police limits in Bolangir district. Police recovered the decomposed body of the woman from the crematorium Monday.
The deceased was identified as Janaki (35) and the accused was Makaru Meher (40), residents of the same village. Earlier brothers of the deceased Arjun and Gopal Rout had lodged a complaint with the police. Locals informed that Makaru and Basanti had tied the nuptial knot in 2010 and the couple has an eight-year-old son. They informed that for the last two years, Makaru had been practicing witchcraft and spending most of his time in solitary confinement.
At times he used to call his wife into the room during the rituals. When neighbours did not see Janaki for the last few days and found a foul smell coming from the house they suspected something amiss. The locals then informed other members of Makaru’s family living in the same village. They arrived at Makaru’s house and broke open the door only to find him sitting alone with the decomposed body of Janaki.
Later on, information was sent to Janaki’s family. When they arrived they found Janaki’s body being taken to the crematorium. A bitter argument broke out between the members of the two families after which two of Janaki’s brothers lodged a police complaint. Police then reached the crematorium and seized Janaki’s body and sent it for post-mortem. Police also detained Makaru and launched a probe into the incident, officials said.