Elderly couple killed over torn slipper, ‘hadia’ and a goat in West Singhbhum | Ranchi News
Failure to provide a goat and three pots of ‘hadia’ as compensation for a torn slipper cost an elderly couple their lives in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district.When Sargia Balmuchu,72, and his wife Mukta, 65, were found brutally hacked to death in their Lupunga village home Monday, little did anyone in the sleepy hamlet know about the reason. A police probe later revealed how a petty dispute over a torn slipper and local gram sabha’s bizarre ruling led to the twin murder.According to police, the couple’s 17-year-old daughter had allegedly damaged the straps of a slipper belonging to a villager, Jangam Balmuchu, 35. His mother demanded the girl’s parents buy her son a new slipper. Citing their poor financial condition, Sargia apologised and expressed his inability, leading to tension between the families. The elderly couple also rebuked Jangam for falsely accusing their daughter, Gua police station in-charge Nitish Kumar said Thursday. “Unhappy with the response, the mother-son duo approached village elders. A meeting was held on Nov 23, during which gram sabha imposed a penalty on the couple — a goat and three earthen pots of ‘hadia (rice beer)’. The couple’s objection to this ‘compensation’ further angered Jangam.” On Monday, when Sargia and Mukta were asleep in their veranda, Jangam allegedly hacked them to death with an axe.
