Teen kills her adoptive mother with help from friends

By Sagaya Fernando | May 17, 2025

Paralakhemundi, Odisha | A teenage girl in eastern India was arrested on May 8, 2025, along with two young men for allegedly murdering her adoptive mother and attempting to disguise the killing as a natural death, police said.

The 14-year-old, a student in Class 8, is accused of conspiring with two friends — identified as Ganesh Rath, 21, and Dinesh Sahu, 20 — to smother 54-year-old Rajlaxmi, the woman who had adopted her as a baby.

According to police in Odisha’s Gajapati district, the girl allegedly drugged her mother with sleeping pills on the night of 29 April. Once the woman was unconscious, the two men were called to the house, where the trio are believed to have suffocated her using pillows.

The motive, officers say, appears to be a combination of resistance to the girl’s relationships with the two men and an intention to claim ownership of her adoptive mother’s property.

After the killing, the suspects allegedly told relatives that Rajlaxmi had died of a heart attack — a claim made plausible by her existing heart condition. She was cremated the next day in Bhubaneswar, where some family members live, and no initial suspicions were raised.

The case came to light after the girl’s uncle found a hidden mobile phone containing Instagram messages that appeared to detail the murder plot, as well as a plan to steal jewellery and money from the victim. Police say the girl had handed over gold ornaments to Rath before the murder, which he pawned for around ₹240,000 (approximately US$2,880) to buy a motorcycle.

Following a complaint filed by Rajlaxmi’s brother on 8 May, police arrested all three suspects. During interrogation, they reportedly confessed to the crime. Officers have since recovered three mobile phones, the pillows used in the killing, 30 grams of gold, and other evidence.

Gajapati Superintendent of Police Jatin Kumar Panda said a full investigation is ongoing and that the accused will face strict legal action.

The case has sparked shock across Odisha and raised fresh concerns about juvenile crime and online influence among adolescents in India.