Municipal Councillor’s Brother ‘Commits Suicide’ Inside Temple In Odisha’s Nabarangpur

Nabarangpur: The brother of a municipal councillor has allegedly committed suicide inside a temple in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district.

According to sources, Bhima Harijan of Tikirasahi under Umerkote Municipality limits had gone out of his house after having dinner on Saturday night but did not return. On Sunday morning, the priests and servitors of Maa Pendarani temple in the town found him hanging in the kitchen of the temple. Maa Pendarani is the presiding deity of the town.

On being informed, a team from Umerkote police station went to the temple and brought the body out of the premises. They sent the body for post-mortem and filed an unnatural death case. After the completion of the post-mortem, the police handed over Bhima’s body to his family to perform last rites.

Bhima is survived by wife and two children who stay in Tikirasahi. According to the locals, he was suffering from mental problems for some time.

Following Bhima’s death inside the temple, the rituals of the deity were delayed. Hundreds of devotees coming from the locality as well as outside and Chhattisgarh had to wait for several hours for entry as the temple was cleaned and sanctified with holy water before they were allowed inside.