Odisha man kills daughter, 3 grandchildren to pocket Rs 2 lakh

Five days after the bodies of a woman and her three children were found floating in the Mahanadi river in coastal Jagatsinghpur district, about 130 km southeast of here, police said on Tuesday that the woman’s father had strangled them to pocket for Rs 2 lakh.

The bodies of Mamuni Sethi and her children - daughters Barsha (10), Disha (8) and son Muna(5) - were found floating in Mahanadi river near Jagannathpur village of Jagatsinghpur district on May 10. The bodies bore injury marks and two of them were tied together at the limbs.

The woman’s father Akshay Sethi, a farmer, initially alleged that his daughter’s in-laws had killed her to usurp the money she had received as compensation after her husband’s death. But subsequent police investigation revealed Sethi to be the murderer. The man allegedly murdered his daughter and grandchildren at her home.

Tirtol sub divisional police officer Shiba Mallick said when post mortem reports of the four bodies came in it was clear that all the victims had been strangulated. “When we interrogated Akshay, he admitted to his crime. He first strangulated his two granddaughters and then killed his grandson and daughter similarly. He then threw the bodies in the Mahanadi,” said Mallick.

Police officials said, Sethi wanted Rs 2 lakh from Mamuni out of the Rs 5 lakh that she received after the death of her husband Biswambar in a road accident last month. Biswambar worked at IFFCO’s phosphoric acid and diammonium phosphate plant in Paradip. After his death IFFCO officials had given Rs 3 lakh to his wife as ex-gratia. Mamuni also got Rs 2 lakh as life insurance sum following her husband’s death.