Jajpur, Dec 19: The body of a young man was found hanging inside a house in Odisha’s Binjharpur police station area on Friday, prompting allegations of murder from his family and the launch of a police investigation.

The deceased, identified as Ashok Das, was found hanging inside the house of a woman at her parental home in Mainda village at around 9am today, police said. Ashok was a resident of the same locality.

According to the family of the deceased, Ashok was in a relationship with Sonali Das, a married woman from the area. Sonali, daughter of Kain Das of Binjharpur, was married to a man from Salepur in neighbouring Cuttack district. Following disputes linked to the relationship, Sonali had reportedly returned to her parental home.

Family members alleged that Ashok had gone to Sonali’s house on Thursday, after which he was allegedly confined inside the house by her relatives. When Ashok’s family members received information and reached the spot, the woman's family demanded ransom and humiliated Ashok and his family members. They allegedly roughed up Ashok in front of his family and asserted that even after paying the ransom, the woman would hit Ashok with chappals, as according to them, he 'ruined' the married couple's marital life.

However, on Friday morning, Ashok’s body was recovered in a hanging position from inside the house. His family has alleged that he was killed and the body was later hung using a towel to make it appear as a suicide. A written complaint has been lodged at the Binjharpur police station.

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Police said a case has been registered and a scientific team has been engaged to examine the scene. Further investigation is underway to ascertain the circumstances leading to the death.