Malkangiri: Over 50 houses were torched, shops looted, and vehicles damaged in MV-26 and Rakhelguda villages under Mariwada Panchayat in Malkangiri district on Sunday, following the discovery of a woman’s headless body on December 4 (Thursday).
The deceased has been identified as Lake Padiami (51), a widow from Rakhelguda village. Her body was recovered from a local riverbank, sparking anger among the local tribal communities.
According to reports, villagers and tribal organizations demanded that the police immediately arrest the accused and recover the missing head. On Saturday, over a hundred villagers gathered in Rakhelguda for a meeting to warn the police. The unrest escalated on Sunday when hundreds of tribal men and women, carrying weapons, assembled in MV-26 village.
Upon receiving the information, Korukonda police rushed to the scene and tried to dissuade the villagers from taking the law into their own hands. However, the crowd refused to comply. By 4 p.m., violence erupted. Hundreds of people forcibly entered homes, destroyed property, looted shops, and set several houses on fire.
Following the incident, senior officials, including Malkangiri SP Vinodh Patil H, District Collector Somesh Kumar Upadhyay, Sub-Collector Ashni AL, Additional District Magistrate Bedabara Pradhan, and Malkangiri Police Station IIC Regan Kindo, Korukonda Police Station IIC Himanshu Barik, and Balimela Police Station IIC Aswini Patnaik, visited the affected villages. Over a hundred police personnel and BSF jawans were deployed to restore order.
Villagers were left in distress, fearing for their safety overnight, while the police continue to investigate the incident and work to calm tensions.
