Man looks after father's killer

Manoranjan Behera has a strange job.

He is paid Rs. 70 per day for taking care of the killer of his father who was a forest department employee.

Twentyfive-year-old Manoranjan's job is to look after a number of estuarine crocodiles kept by the forest department in the Bhitarkanika Wildlife sanctuary.

His father, Madhusudan, was doing the same job as an ad hoc employee of the department, when he was killed by one of the crocs eight years ago.

"My father used to feed the captive crocs. One of them killed him on April 24, 2000 after which the forest department officials asked me to do what my father was doing and I am on the job since then", he said.

"I still vividly remember the day when a male crocodile killed my father while he was feeding it with crab and fish".

Stating that destiny had played a cruel joke on him, Manoranjan said he was left with hardly any option but to accept the offer.

The department had paid an ex-gratia of Rs. 10,000 to the family after Madhusudan was killed, he said.