Teen girl, two friends arrested for killing woman who raised her, in Odisha

Class VIII girl and friends arrested for murdering woman who adopted her, motivated by property and relationship disputes.

“A Class VIII girl student and her two male friends were arrested on Friday (May 16, 2025) in Odisha’s Gajapati district for allegedly murdering a woman who had adopted the girl after rescuing her from a roadside when she was just three days old,” a police officer said.

According to police, the girl and her friends smothered the woman — identified as 54-year-old Rajalaxmi Kar — at her rented house in Paralakhemundi town on April 29. The motive was allegedly her opposition to the girl’s relationship with the two young men and to gain control of her property.

After committing the crime, the accused fabricated a story claiming Rajalaxmi had died of a heart attack. The next day, April 30, they cremated her body in Bhubaneswar, where some of her relatives resided.

“Owing to Rajalaxmi’s history of heart disease, her family, including her brother, believed the fabricated story,” Gajapati SP Jatindra Kumar Panda said.

The truth came to light when the girl’s uncle found her hidden mobile phone in Bhubaneswar, which contained social media chats with the two co-accused detailing their plan to murder Rajalaxmi and loot more than 70 gm of gold ornaments along with ₹60,000 in cash.

Following the discovery, Siba Prasad Mishra, the deceased’s brother, lodged an FIR at Paralakhemundi police station last Wednesday. A police investigation led to the arrest of the three accused — temple priest Ganesh Rath (21), Dinesh Sahu (20), both from Paralakhemundi and the deceased’s 13-year-old adopted daughter.

Police said Rajalaxmi had adopted the girl after rescuing her as an abandoned infant in Bhubaneswar. After the girl got admission at Kendriya Vidyalaya in Paralakhemundi, the two shifted there and were staying in a rented house. Recently, the girl developed a relationship with Rath and Sahu, which her mother opposed.