Odisha man kills wife, 2-year-old daughter with poisonous snake, held

The man had bought a poisonous snake from a snake charmer on the pretext of worshipping it in the temple. While his wife and daughter were sleeping, he released the snake into the room. The two died immediately after being bitten by the snake.

Ganjam (Odisha): A man was arrested on Thursday for allegedly killing his wife and two-year-old daughter by unleashing a poisonous snake on them while they were asleep in Odisha's Ganjam district around 1.5 months back, police said.

The incident took in Adherbar village under the jurisdiction of Kabisuryanagar police station on October 7. Investigations revealed that the accused, K. Ganesh, a migrant worker bought a venomous from a local snake charmer and released it into the room where his wife, Basanti Pan and daughter were sleeping. The mother-daughter died immediately after being bitten by snake.

Ganesh and Basanti got married three years back. However, the couple used to get into fights frequently since last year. Alleging that her husband fought with her doubting her of having illicit affairs, Basanti filed a complaint at the police station. Ganesh was arrested but got bail after submitting a written undertaking. Although the couple and their daughter lived together, Ganesh used to reportedly pressurise Basanti to withdraw the allegations leveled by her and even threatened to kill their daughter.

On October 7, locals gathered outside Ganesh's house after hearing a commotion inside. When Basanti's father went inside he saw that Ganesh was beating a snake with a stick in his hand while his daughter and granddaughter were lying nearby. The two were rushed to the hospital, where doctors declared them dead. Police took the bodies into custody and handed then over to the family members following post-mortem.

However, five days after the incident, Basanti's father filed a complaint alleging that his daughter and grand daughter were murdered and a murder case was registered. Police started the investigations.

During investigation, the accused admitted that he had actually conspired to kill his wife and daughter. He said that he bought the snake from a snake charmer in Muktamal Deipurshaman under Polsara police station on the pretext of worshipping it at the local temple. After bringing the reptile home in a plastic bottle, he had released in into the room while the two were sleeping.

While probing the case, police sought help from the Snake Helpline organisation. Last Sunday, Snake Helpline general secretary Shubhendu Mallik, south Odisha coordinator Swadhin Kumar Sahu along with a five-member team went to the spot for investigation. The accused was arrested on Thursday and presented before the court.