Malkangiri violence: 1 held for tribal woman''s murder; govt extends internet suspension period

Bhubaneswar/ Malkangiri, Dec 9 (PTI) One person was arrested on Tuesday on the charge of beheading a tribal woman following which a group clash erupted leading to damage of around 200 houses in a village in Odisha’s Malkangiri district, officials said.

The Odisha government on Tuesday extended internet service suspension across Malkangiri district till 12 PM of December 10 as tension prevailed in Korkunda police station area. The clash that took place on Sunday afternoon between residents of two villages following the recovery of a headless body of a tribal woman on December 4.

The prohibitory orders clamped in the two villages continued to remain in force, officials said.

Meanwhile, the torso of the deceased, a 51-year-old widow Laka Podiami, was buried by the family members after the post-mortem examination was conducted, they said, adding that the head is yet to be found.

However, as per tradition of Koya tribals, an artificial head made of clay was fitted on the body before it was laid to rest.

“Even an earring was craved on the clay as the deceased woman was wearing it during her death,” said Mukunda Padiami, a tribal leader.

Malkangiri SDPO Divya Ranjan Dalai said, “The family members who were initially reluctant to receive body and demanding immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the killing, finally agreed after counselling,” District Collector Somesh Kumar Upadhyay and SP Vinodh Patil monitored the burial.

Korkunda Police Station Inspector-in-Charge Himanhu Sekhar Barik said, “One Subha Ranjan Mandal (42) was arrested on charge of killing the tribal woman.

He confessed to have thrown the torso and the severed head in river Poteru. While the body was recovered on December 4, the head is still missing, he said.

“As per the request of Collector & District Magistrate, Malkangiri, the Home Department hereby extends prohibition of the use and access of social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, X and any other through internet and other medium of data services for another 18 hours up to 12 PM of 10.12.2025 in Malkangiri district,” according to a notification.

This order shall not be applicable to government internet and intranet based services, besides banking and railways, the notification said.

According to deceased woman’s son Ravi Podiai, his mother went missing on December 1 and they lodged a complaint at the police station on December 3. Her headless body was recovered on December 4.

He said that the accused was the share cropper in their field. “He has killed my mother when we asked him not to cultivate our land anymore,” the son claimed.

Speaking to PTI, Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), southern division, Sangram Keshari Mohapatra said, “The situation is normal here. The administration has already held three rounds of discussion with the agitating tribals and affected Bengali settlers. Both the parties have agreed to shun violence and maintain peace.” In the peace committee meeting, Bengali settlers' leader Gourang Karmakar claimed that at least 200 houses have been affected in Sunday's clash of which 150 dwelling units have been set on fire.

He said the residents are presently living in houses of other Bengali settlers in nearby areas.

“We urged the administration to provide compensation as most of the affected persons were innocent poor people,” Karmakar said.

The SDPO said the deceased’s family was provided with financial assistance of Rs 30,000 for funeral.

“The family will be given Rs 4 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The situation was under control, and there was no fresh violence in either of the two villages under Korkunda police station area,” Upadhyay told reporters.

A clash took place on Sunday afternoon when tribals of Rakhalguda village allegedly attacked MV-26 village, a Bengali settler’s area, under Korkunda Sadar police station area.

The issue was raised in the Assembly by senior BJD member Ranendra Pratap Swain. He demanded a statement from Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on the Malkangiri situation which he described as “burning”.

“It appears a Manipur like situation in Malkangiri, and people have fled from their house. The Assembly should be informed what exactly is happening in Malkangiri as it indicates an ethnic clash,” Swain said.

Odisha DGP Y B Khurania and other top officials visited the affected MV-26 village on Tuesday and held discussions with the tribal residents of Rakhalguda village.

Around 2,000 personnel of Odisha Police and BSF were deployed in the area as the situation remained tense.

Both the Bengali settlers and tribals have submitted petitions to the district collector demanding arrest of the culprits.

The Bengali settlers are staying in Malkangiri district for about 60 years since the government of India in 1964 had settled migrated Bengali families in 215 villages in the district. The Bengalis came from East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. PTI COR AAM NN BDC