Odisha: Man kills wife, 2-yr-old daughter by releasing snake in room

In a shocking incident in Odisha's Ganjam district, a 25-year-old man allegedly killed his wife and two-year-old daughter by releasing a venomous snake into their room.

According to police, the accused, identified as K Ganesh Patra, was having a marital dispute with his wife K Basanti Patra, 23. They were married in 2020 and had a two-year-old daughter named Debasmita.

The accused allegedly procured a snake from a snake charmer and released it into the room of his wife and the minor daughter on October 6, police said.

On October 6, he brought a cobra in a plastic jar and released the snake into the room where his wife and daughter slept. Both were found dead with snake bites the next morning, while the accused slept in another room. The police initially registered an unnatural death case, but questioned the accused after his father-in-law lodged an FIR accusing him of murder, Ganjam SP Jagmohan Meena said.

"The accused was arrested a month after the incident as there was some delay in gathering evidence against him. During interrogation, he initially denied the allegation and later claimed that the snake might have entered the room on its own but eventually confessed to committing the crime," the SP said.