Jagatsinghpur: Pushed to penury for lack of income sources in the wake of restrictions imposed in the wake of COVID pandemic, a man allegedly committed suicide after killing his daughter and critically injuring his wife in the district.
The man, identified as Loknath Pal of Jota Chandpatna village, used to work as a mason. His son Pankaj Pal was also supplementing to family’s income. Some time back, Pankaj shifted to Bhubaneswar after marriage.
As the lockdown was imposed due to the pandemic, Loknath could not go out for work and his saving got depleted in meeting the daily needs. His son also stopped helping the family financially.
According to villagers, Loknath was in extremely stressed for being unable to get any work due to the lockdown. He used to be stressed about the education and marriage of his daughter, they added.
According to preliminary investigation, Loknath attempted to kill his wife Kalpana and daughter Madhusmita with a sharp weapon on Friday night. Both sustained critical injuries in the process. Later, Loknath hanged himself to death in his house.
His neighbours got suspicious when they found Loknath’s house closed and no sound coming from inside till late in the morning on Saturday. On being informed by them, the police reached the spot and broke open the house.
Loknath was found dead and his wife and daughter were in critical condition. Both mother and daughter were rushed to the district headquarters hospital where Madhusmita, who was in her early twenties, succumbed to injuries. As Kalpana’s condition became critical, she was shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
Sadar Police has filed a case and further investigation is on.
