Odisha: Two held for assaulting pregnant woman, foeticide

KENDRAPARA: Two persons were arrested on Sunday on charges of assaulting a pregnant woman in Dosia village within Pattamundai police limits and causing death of her unborn child. The accused were identified as Nidhiram Mallick and Prasant Swain.Nidhiram and Prasant had allegedly entered the house of 33-year-old victim Manasi Swain on Wednesday night with an intention to loot gold ornaments and cash.
However, they were met with stiff resistance from Manasi who was expecting. In their bid to escape, the duo assaulted and kicked the pregnant woman, Pattamundai IIC Pramod Mallick.The victim lives with her two minor children in the village while her husband works as a plumber in New Delhi.

Following the incident, Manasi was first rushed to the Government hospital at Pattamundai and later, shifted to district headquarters hospital at Kendrapara where she suffered a miscarriage and delivered a stillborn baby on Saturday night.

The duo was arrested under Sections 313,  316, 354, 323, 452, 457 and 394 of the IPC. Further investigation is on and more accused will be arrested soon, the IIC added.