70-year-old woman crawls 2 km to collect pension in Odisha
Keonjhar (Odisha), Sep 24: A 70-year-old woman in Odisha's Keonjhar district was forced to crawl nearly two kilometres from her home to the panchayat office to collect her old-age pension.
The ailing woman identified as Pathuri Dehury, a resident of Raisuan gram panchayat, cannot walk.
A video of Dehury crawling on a village road has gone viral on social media.
Raisuan gram panchayat sarpanch Bagun Champia said that he drew the attention of the administration after watching the old woman crawling on the road on television news and seeing her pictures in newspapers.
“I have also verified from the villagers that the woman is not able to walk properly due to her age-related aliment,” the Sarpanch said.
Though the state government had earlier issued a directive to officials to deliver the pension of elderly and disabled beneficiaries at their doorstep, Dehury said a panchayat official had asked her to visit the office to collect the monthly pension.
The woman is 70 years old and had no other alternative to reach there, according to villagers.
The gram panchayat concerned is under Telkoi block in Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s home district Keonjhar.
Telkoi block development officer (BDO) Geeta Murmu told PTI that the old-age pension was earlier sent to Dehury’s bank account.
However, as she became ill and expressed her inability to visit the bank, the local administration has started disbursing the pension by hand, she said.
Now, the panchayat extension officer was asked to disburse the old-age pension to Dehury at her home each month. A wheelchair has also been provided to her, the BDO said.
Raisuan sarpanch said the civil supply assistant will provide rations to Dehury at her doorstep.
The state government provides pension to 42 lakh elderly people under schemes like Madhu Babu Pension Yojana and the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme.
80-year-old woman was forced to crawl nearly 2 km to panchayat office in Telkoi block of Odisha's Keonjhar to collect her old-age pension, despite a government directive to deliver the allowances to homes of elderly and disabled beneficiaries.@CMO_Odisha @BJP4Odisha… pic.twitter.com/DbtXXIrU74
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
