Odisha: Man Kills Wife And Child By Releasing Cobra Into Room, Arrested A Month Later

The accused initially told police that a snake had entered his house and bitten his wife and two-year-old daughter.

A man was arrested for allegedly killing his wife and two-year-old daughter by releasing a poisonous snake in their room in Odisha’s Ganjam district, according to a PTI report. The incident took place in Adheigaon village in Kabisurya Nagar area, around 60 km from Berhampur.

The accused, K Ganesh Patra, 25, took the step as he was frustrated due to marital problems with his wife, K Basanti Patra, 23. They were married in 2020 and had a two-year-old daughter named Debasmita.

On October 7, Ganesh alerted his neighbours that a snake had entered his house and bitten his wife and child. The villagers killed the snake and rushed the mother-daughter dup to a nearby hospital. However, they were declared brought dead.

Ganesh lodged a complaint with police and a case of unnatural death was registered.

The needle of suspicion turned towards Ganesh after his father-in-law lodged an FIR accusing him of being involved in the deaths, Ganjam Superintendent of Police Jagmohan Meena told PTI.

Police then questioned Ganesh and started maintaining vigilance on his movements.

"Meanwhile, we also received the post mortem report clearly indicating that the death of the mother-daughter duo had occurred during late October 6 night. This raised suspicion that how could the reptile remain in the same room till morning several hours after biting the duo," IANS quoted Pravat Kumar Sahu, the inspector in-charge of Kabisuryanagar police, as saying.

The police then started questioning snake charmers in the locality and soon found out that Ganesh had brought a snake from one of them on October 6. Ganesh procured the snake by telling the snake charmer that he would use the reptile for religious purpose.

On October 6, Ganesh brought the cobra in a plastic jar and released it in the room where his wife and daughter were sleeping.

Ganesh used to work at a construction company in Himachal Pradesh and came to his native village on vacation four months ago, according to an IANS report.

Ganesh was arrested a month after the incident and has been sent to 14 days' judicial custody by a local court.

"During interrogation, he initially denied the allegation and later claimed that the snake might have entered the room on its own. But he confessed that he committed the crime," Ganjam SP told PTI.