- The accused admitted that the act was an attempt to get back his wife, who left him about three years ago
- The head of the victim was exhumed from the accused's puja room
- The accused and victim did not know each other, the police said
In a suspected case of occult practice, a man in Odisha's Bolangir district allegedly beheaded a resident of a neighbouring village and buried the head in the puja room of his house to get back his estranged wife, police said on Friday.
The matter came to light last Thursday after the decapitated body of Santosh Kharsel (45), a resident of Tebadamunda village, missing since August 18, was recovered from a pond in Bagada village.
Investigation revealed that the victim was last seen with Satrughna Sahu (40).
Sahu was detained, and during interrogation, he confessed to the crime, but claimed the killing was the fallout of an intense argument after drinking liquor, a police officer said.
However, during further grilling, he admitted that the act was an attempt to get back his wife, who left him about three years ago, the officer added.
Following the confession, the head of the victim was exhumed from Sahu's puja room, and he was placed under arrest.
Bolangir's Superintendent of Police (SP) Abilash G said, "The accused and victim did not know each other. After meeting Kharsel, Sahu invited him to his house and killed him." "We have arrested the accused and also seized the murder weapon," the SP said.
"Initially, we suspected that the accused threw away the head to mislead police. Exhumation of the head from the puja room revealed the human sacrifice angle," the officer said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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