Man held for beating wife to death

Rourkela: A 33-year-old woman was beaten to death allegedly by her husband in Sundargarh district following a domestic dispute. The local Hemgir police arrested husband Makunda Dharwar (38) from his house at Khuntijhari village on Thursday.According to police, Pushpa Dharwar and Makunda had entered a forested stretch on their way back home at Khuntijhari village under Hemgir police limits, while returning from a market on Wednesday afternoon. An argument broke out between them over a family matter, while Makunda was allegedly speaking with someone over his mobile phone. Pushpa, enraged, allegedly snatched the phone and threw it away. This, police said, infuriated Makunda, who picked up a stick and assaulted her, causing grievous injuries that left her collapsed.Makunda then carried Pushpa back home. While heading back, police said, he slipped and alos injured himself after hitting a stone, but still managed to bring her back home. Despite Pushpa’s critical condition, Makunda did not take her to a hospital. Around 3am on Thursday, he found her unresponsive and informed his younger brother, who alerted Pushpa’s family. Her relatives reached the house on Thursday morning and informed the Hemgir police.

Police reached the spot, seized Pushpa’s body and sent it for postmortem, which will be conducted on Friday. They arrested Makunda and registered a murder case against him on the basis of a complaint filed by Pushpa’s father.“After registering a murder case, we have apprehended the accused and are interrogating him,” said Manoranjan Bisi, inspector-in-charge of Hemgir police station.Following Makunda’s confession, police, along with a scientific team, visited the forest and recovered the stick used in the assault.Pushpa is also survived by her three children.