Odisha man bludgeons wife, mother-in-law to death, buries bodies in garden

A woman and her daughter were found brutally murdered in the backyard of their own home in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. The mother-daughter duo were missing since July 19 before their bodies were discovered in a pit. The accused, Debasish Patra, the son-in-law of the woman, the husband of the killed daughter, has been arrested by police.

The victims have been identified as Sumati Dalei, 55, and her daughter Sonali Dalei, 23. Debasish Patra, a pharmacist at Kuliana Community Health Centre (CHC), allegedly killed the two women to death with a stone on July 19.

In an attempt to conceal the crime, he buried their bodies in a pit in the backyard and planted banana saplings over the grave to mask the disturbed soil.

The case came to light after local villagers grew suspicious of freshly disturbed soil in Debasish’s garden. “We noticed a newly planted banana tree behind his home. When we dug into the freshly filled soil and pushed an iron rod into the ground, we detected a foul smell,” a neighbor reported. Concerned by this irregularity and Sonali’s prolonged absence, villagers alerted the Kuliana police.

The disappearance of Sumati and Sonali was first reported to the police by Debasish himself on July 15, claiming his wife and mother-in-law had been missing for 15 days. However, family members and locals suspected foul play.

A relative of the deceased recounted, “When we filed a complaint at the police station, the Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) initially dismissed it, saying the deceased woman was a ‘whore’ and might have fled with someone. We returned with a group of 20-25 people to the spot where the bodies were buried.”

Following the tip-off, police conducted a search of the property, leading to the grim discovery and exhumation of the bodies with the help of a JCB machine.

“After receiving the complaint, we arrested Debasish and he eventually confessed to committing the murders,” stated a Kuliana police official.

“The bodies have been sent for postmortem after the inquest, and the accused is now in custody. We are questioning him to uncover further details,” said the official.

Investigations have revealed that Debasish, who was previously married to a healthcare worker and is embroiled in a legal dispute with his first wife, married Sonali two years ago. Police suspect long-standing domestic tensions may have contributed to the murders, though the exact motive remains under investigation.

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