Odisha’s Malkangiri district witnessed large-scale arson on Sunday as angry villagers set more than 50 houses ablaze in MV-26 under Mariwada panchayat.

The unrest followed the brutal murder of a 55-year-old woman, Lake Podiami, whose headless body was recovered from the Poteru River last week.

Hundreds of villagers armed with axes, bows, and arrows stormed the settlement in the afternoon. They moved from house to house, torching vehicles and household belongings. Senior officials, including Malkangiri Collector Somesh Kumar Upadhyay and SP Vinod Patil, rushed to the scene. Police teams and Border Security Force personnel were deployed to restore order.

The violence erupted after Podiami’s body was found on Thursday. She had gone missing a day earlier, and her son lodged a complaint at t

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