Puri: The Gop police in the Puri district of Odisha on Tuesday arrested Durgeharna Moharana for the alleged murder of his 17-year-old daughter Monali Moharana on the night of January 7. The police also arrested the victim’s stepmother Mamata Ojha. Meanwhile, Mamata’s brother Jeevan Ojha is said to be absconding.
Three neighbours – Naula Maharana, Shiva Maharana, and Sushant Maharana, who helped the family to burn Monali’s body to erase evidence, were detained by the police and arrested on Wednesday. Police said they were being taken to court for custody.
According to a complaint lodged by Monali’s elder sister Ranjita Moharan, who is working in a private firm in Kolkata, Monali was killed by her father, stepmother, and the latter’s brother on January 8 and their three neighbours burnt her body on a crematorium to erase the evidence.
Ranjita alleged in her complaint that her father and stepmother were very abusive towards Monali and often beat her up for no reason. Monali, who stayed with her father and completed her +3 from Gop College, had informed Ranjita about her harassment and torture over the phone and sought her help.
When the villagers informed Ranjita about her sister’s death, she rushed to Puri and started searching for her sister Monali in her native Bijipur village. Villagers helped Ranjita to trace the ashes of her sister’s body from a crematorium. After Ranjita lodged a complaint with Gop police in this connection, the cops swung into action recovered Monali’s ashes, and sent them for DNA examination. The police also pressed into service a scientific team to investigate into the matter.
Meanwhile, the police presented the accused in a local court. The court rejected their bail plea and sent the six to jail custody.
It is worth mentioning here that after his wife died in 2018, Durgeharna married Mamata Ojha in 2022. The couple abused and tortured Monali often as she was staying with her father and pursuing her graduation at Gop College. In fact, her elder sister Ranjit was bearing the entire expenses of Monali’s education.
