Odisha man invites villager for meal, beheads him and buries head to get wife back

The matter came to light on Thursday, August 20, after the headless body of 45-year-old Santosh Kharsel, who had been missing since August 18, was recovered from a pond.

In Short

• Victim had been missing for 2 days when his headless body was found
• Prime accused, and his 4 aides arrested in connection with the murder
• Victim's head exhumed by cops from puja room at prime accused's home

In a disturbing case of suspected human sacrifice, a 40-year-old man in Odisha’s Balangir district allegedly beheaded a resident of a neighbouring village and buried the severed head under his home's puja room to get back his estranged wife. The prime accused, identified as Shatrughan Sahu, has been arrested along with four of his purported associates.

The matter came to light on Thursday, August 20, after the headless body of 45-year-old Santosh Kharsel, who had been missing since August 18, was recovered from a pond. Investigation revealed that the victim was last seen with Sahu.

He was subsequently detained by the police, and during interrogation, he confessed to the crime, but claimed the killing was the fallout of an intense argument after consuming alcohol, an officer said.

However, as the questioning progressed, Sahu allegedly admitted that the act was an attempt to get back his wife, who left him several years ago. Following the confession, the victim's head was exhumed from Sahu's puja room, and he was placed under arrest.

According to Balangir's Superintendent of Police, Abhilash G, Sahu allegedly invited Kharsel to his house on August 18 on the pretext of having a meal. Police suspect that after Kharsel fell asleep, Sahu and his associates fatally attacked him before severing his head.

"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 was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

He added, "The accused and victim did not know each other. After meeting Kharsel, Sahu invited him to his house and killed him.".

A bloodstained sharp-edged weapon allegedly used in the murder has also been recovered.

News reports suggest that Sahu's mother, brother and sister-in-law have also been detained for questioning as investigators try to establish the full sequence of events and determine whether more people, besides the five arrested, were involved.

The investigation so far has revealed that Sahu's wife, along with their two children, has been living separately from him for about 10 years.

Police believe that his alleged involvement in occult practices was one of the reasons his wife left him. Investigators reconstructed the crime scene as part of their probe.

- Ends
(With inputs from PTI)