A married woman was beaten to death by a youth at Badanayapalli village under the Begunia police limits in Khordha district on Tuesday.
The deceased was identified as Parbati, wife of one Kabi Pradhan of the Badanayapalli village.
Sources said Kabi had a clash with a 21-year-old youth of the same village over some issue three days ago, after which the former lodged a complaint against the youth with police. Angry over this, the youth attacked Kabi with a stick on Tuesday morning. When Kabi’s wife tried to protect him, the youth started beating her mercilessly, leaving her critically injured. Parbati was rushed to a hospital here, where doctors declared her dead.
Meanwhile, the accused has been absconding since the incident took place.