Insane father arrested for brutal murder of minor daughter in Khowai

Police have arrested a mentally unstable man accused of brutally murdering his eight-year-old daughter by slitting her throat with a sharp machete at Mahadev Tilla village under West Sonatala Gram Panchayat in Khowai district. The accused was arrested in the wee hours of Thursday.

According to police sources, the shocking and heart-rending incident took place on Wednesday night. Soon after receiving information, police rushed to the spot, launched an investigation, and collected circumstantial evidence from the crime scene with the assistance of forensic and fingerprint teams.

Based on a complaint lodged by the deceased girl’s grandfather, Binanda Debnath, police registered a murder case against the accused father, Ashish Debnath. Following a search operation, police managed to arrest him from an interior jungle area of Sonatala Gram Panchayat early Thursday morning.

After conducting the necessary medical examination, the accused was produced before a local court with a prayer for police remand.

Sources said the victim, Ankhi Debnath (8), had been living with her father for the past four years after her mother left Ashish Debnath due to his prolonged mental illness and later remarried. On the ill-fated Wednesday night, Ashish Debnath allegedly attacked his daughter without any apparent reason and killed her inside their house.

On Wednesday around 9 pm, the girl’s grandfather, Binanda Debnath, an e-rickshaw driver by profession, returned home and repeatedly called out to his granddaughter. When there was no response, he entered the house and found Ankhi lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

Family members stated that Ashish Debnath (40) had been suffering from mental illness for the last four to five years. Neighbours also said that his wife had left the house earlier as she could not cope with his condition, leaving the child behind. It was also reported that Binanda Debnath’s wife, who was present in the house at the time of the incident, is mentally ill as well. Police said further investigation into the case is underway.