Tripura woman beheads husband, keeps head in temple

A woman allegedly beheaded her 50-year-old husband and kept the blood-soaked head in a plastic bag at the family’s temple in Tripura’s Khowai district in the wee hours of Saturday, a police officer said.

While Khowai Superintendent of Police Bhanupada Chakraborty said the reason behind the killing is not yet known, the couple’s elder son said his mother has developed a psychological disorder recently and underwent treatment by a local occultist.

The 42-year-old woman was arrested from their residence at Indira Colony village of the district. She was living there with her husband Rabindra Tanti, a daily wager, and two minor sons.

“My mother had always been a vegetarian. But she had chicken last night and all of us went to sleep. Suddenly I woke up and saw my father was beheaded. I was shocked to see my mother was standing with a blood-soaked dao (a sharp weapon). When we raised an alarm, she rushed out of the room and kept my father’s head in our temple,” the elder son said.

She then confined herself to a room from where the police arrested her. “We have recovered the body and arrested the woman. An investigation has started,” the SP told PTI.

A forensic team has visited the place and collected pieces of evidence, he said.

About the mental illness of the accused, Chakraborty said he cannot comment on that without a doctor’s report.