Bhubaneswar: A 17-year-old girl who had eloped and married her lover just four days ago was found hanging in a forest near Kandhara village under Kankadahada police limits in Dhenkanal district on Tuesday evening.
The deceased had reportedly tied the knot with 23-year-old Biren Nayak of Hatiluchani village under Parjang police station, on July 25.
According to sources, the couple met around four months ago at the Dhenkanal bus stand, where Nayak worked as a packaged water seller. They remained in contact over the phone and eventually decided to elope and marry at a local temple.
On Tuesday afternoon, the couple visited the girl’s parental home. However, a quarrel reportedly broke out later that day over a mobile phone. The girl was later found hanging from a tree in a nearby cashew forest.
Local villagers spotted the body and informed her family, who then alerted the police. Upon receiving the information, personnel from Kankadahada police station, with the assistance of the fire service, recovered the body in the presence of villagers and sent it to Kamakhyanagar Community Health Center (CHC) for post-mortem.
Police have detained the husband and initiated a detailed investigation to ascertain the circumstances leading to the girl’s death.