Family disputes turn deadly in Odisha, two men killed by kin in separate incidents

Bhubaneswar: In a shocking incident, a 26-year-old youth hacked his elder brother to death over a familial dispute in Purunakote Police Station area of Angul district in Odisha, informed a senior police officer on Monday.

The senior cop also stated that the ghastly murder was reported on late Sunday night, while the police received the information about the murder on Monday morning.

Upon being informed, the local police reached the crime scene along with the scientific team and initiated an investigation into the matter. The police seized the victim’s body and sent it to District Headquarters Hospital, Angul, for a postmortem on Monday.

The accused was identified as Bipin Sitha of Pukunda village under Purunakote police station limits. Bipin has three other brothers, including the victim Titun Sitha.

According to police, the two brothers had a heated argument late on Sunday night over a property dispute. The brothers had been at loggerheads over disputes related to the property for the past few years.

The argument soon turned violent when the accused, the youngest among the siblings, in a fit of rage, attacked his second-oldest brother, Titun, with an axe, killing him on the spot. The police also arrested the accused brother, who was sitting near the body.

Local sources stated that the accused was suffering from some mental health problems. A case (112/2026) has been registered at the Purunakote police station in this regard.

In another incident, an elderly person was beaten to death by his son in the Gosaninuagaon police station area of Ganjam district on late Sunday evening.

The accused son was identified as Biraja Prasad Mohanty, 46, of the Tota Sahi area in the Gosani Nuagaon area.

A senior police officer told IANS that on Sunday evening, the accused, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, engaged in an altercation with his 76-year-old father and victim Sarat Chandra Mohanty over property-related issues. When the argument between the father and son escalated, the accused Biraja, in a sudden outburst of anger, assaulted his father with a wooden plank.

The accused also attacked his mother when she came to the rescue of her husband during the fight. Both the injured parents were rushed to MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur, where the father succumbed to his injuries late on Sunday night.

The mother, who sustained serious injuries, is undergoing treatment at the hospital.