Odisha Girl Assaulted By Neighbour For Stealing Saplings, Found Dead

A 13-year-old girl was found hanging hours after her neighbour allegedly beat her for stealing a marigold sapling in a village in Mayurbhanj district, Odisha.

The tribal girl’s parents had gone to Bhubaneswar from Bhaluhuruda village under the Udala police station limits for some work after requesting the neighbour to look after her until they returned.

On being alerted about the incident, the police reached the village, recovered the girl's body, and arrested the neighbour, a woman identified as Laxmi Murmu.

Neighbour Beats Girl For Stealing Marigold Saplings

A police officer of Udala police station, Laxmikanta Nayak, said that the girl was supposed to sleep at the neighbour’s house at night as her parents were in Bhubaneswar. It was claimed that on the evening of October 10, the girl took some marigold plants from the neighbour’s house. When the woman learned about it the next day, she thrashed the girl.

Later, the girl was found hanging by a saree on the veranda of her house. On October 11, the girl’s parents received a call from the woman informing them that their daughter had uprooted some marigold plants. Later, they got another call saying that the girl stole some marigold saplings.

When the parents returned home on October 12, they accused the neighbour woman of beating their daughter to death.

When a police official was asked if this was a case of murder or suicide, he said that local people had seen the woman thrashing the girl. However, the exact cause of the death remains unknown as of now and will be confirmed only after getting the post-mortem results.

He also added that police officials are investigating from all angles, and the body has been handed over to the girl’s parents after the autopsy was completed on October 13.

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