After being harassed and discouraged to resolve their grievances, people are increasingly choosing suicide bid before Assembly for highlighting their problems better and getting instant attention of the Government.In a few cases, the Government has acted promptly also.
As many as three cases have been reported from Kujang area in Jagatsinghpur district in which three persons and their kin had attempted suicide before State Assembly in past one year. Of them two persons and their prompters have been successfully rescued by cops, though sadly in the third case, the youth from Kujanga died at hospital, after taking a suicidal bid before Assembly during just concluded Monsoon Session. The first suicidal attempt before Assembly was reported on November 28, 2020, by one Sulochana Das and Subrata Das, residents of Kujang village, protesting inaction by police investigation in engineer Amrut Das mysterious death case.
Police concluded in a final report that Amrut had died due to a road mishap that occurred on Cuttack-Paradip State Highway, but Sulochana had complained that her son Amruit had been murdered by a group of miscreants owing to personal enmity. Being unhappy with the police action, Sulochana and Subrat staged a self-immolation bid before Assembly but were rescued safely by police.
Later State Government ordered a fresh probe in the case. One Ullasa Jena hailing from Pankapala village under Kujang block who was a liquor shop employee was charred to death by a few unidentified miscreants adjacent to liquor shop in year 2019. Police had launched a manhunt to nab the fugitive culprits but were unable to trace them after the passing of months. The deceased Ullasa's mother Jyotsna and two brothers Umesh and Tapas on February 18, 2021, reached Bhubaneswar and attempted self-immolation before the Assembly after pouring kerosene on the body. Police timely intervened and overpowered the trio from setting them on fire.
Following the incident, the State Government had instructed police for a fresh inquiry but to date, no arrest has yet been done, the report informed. Another attempt to commit suicide near Assembly was reported on September 8 by Dushmanta Das hailing from Pankapal village under Kujang block. He had been rescued by cops after he slit his wrist and consumed poison in the vicinity of the Assembly. He was taken to the SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack for treatment where he died. The death of Dushmanta has created much uproar among opposition political parties and common men over last week..