Siblings. Representative image.
Reuters
Bhubaneswar: Mystery shrouds the death of two minor brothers whose bodies were recovered from a closed room in Odisha’s Nayagarh district on Monday, police said.
The incident took place at Dhanchangada village under Fatehgarh police station limits.
While one deceased boy was 14 years old, his younger brother was 11. They were studying in class 9 and 4, respectively.
Police said the boys were in good health and had no known ailments.
However, their maternal uncle, Anataryami Mohanty, has alleged that "the children were murdered by their family members because they opposed their father’s remarriage."
The boys’ mother had passed away three years ago, and their father, Prakash Mohanty, had been making arrangements to marry again, sources alleged.
"The children were strongly against the remarriage," police said, citing a complaint filed by the deceased children’s maternal grandmother.
Meanwhile, the boys’ grandfather, Achyuta Mohanty, acknowledged that "the children were indeed opposed to their father’s remarriage, but they took their own lives." The police have detained the boys’ father and launched an investigation.
"We have initiated a probe into the incident," a police officer confirmed.