Suicide Near Odisha Assembly: Hasty Post-Mortem, Forced Cremation Cast Cloud On Cops

Bhubaneswar: A youth died during treatment SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack on Wednesday evening hours after he attempted to commit suicide near the Assembly here.

The deceased, Dushmanta Das, hailed from Mantripatana village in Kujang block of Jagatsinghpur district.

Police had rescued Dushamnta after he slit his wrist and consumed poison in the vicinity of the Assembly on Wednesday morning. He was taken to Capital police station in Bhubaneswar for questioning and then rushed to Capital Hospital after his condition worsened. He was later shifted to SCB in Cuttack where he died around 6.45 pm.

According to sources, the developments after Dushamnta’s death have cast doubts on the conduct of police and hospital authorities.

They said his post-mortem was conducted hastily at SCB between 11 pm and midnight on Wednesday. A magistrate and police were present.

The timing of the post-mortem seems murky as such procedures are not conducted after 5 pm, the sources claimed.

Police handed over the body to the deceased’s family around 2 am. However, police allegedly compelled the family to perform the cremation at Swargdwar in Puri instead of to their native village. A joint police team from Balikuda and Kujang accompanied the family to keep an eye on the cremation in the wee hours of Thursday.

Villagers have resented this police action and demanded a clarification from the district administration.

On the other hand, Kujang BDO Amiya Panda met Dushamnta’s widow, who is puttingup with her parents at Badapala village at present.

The BDO gave her a cheque for Rs 1 lakh. He assured her that the government will give her a job and bear the educational expenses of her daughter.

Earlier while being taken to the police station, Dushmanta had told the media that he tried to kill himself because of alleged medical apathy of SCB authorities towards his treatment.

“I had met with a road accident on March 22 last year. I was admitted to SCB with a deep wound on my left leg. On the advice of doctors, I underwent a first surgery the next day and another one on June 19, 2020,” he said.

“However, the SCB authorities discharged me from the hospital on July 15 on the pretext of COVID-19 pandemic. As I later felt excruciating pain on my leg, I requested the SCB authorities to admit me for treatment, but to no avail,” he added.

He even claimed to have written to the SCB Superintendent, Chief Minister, Governor, Health minister and Health Secretary to get him treated under Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY). But his appeals failed to get a response.

On the contrary, SCB Emergency Officer Bhubanananda Maharana said the allegations were baseless.

Maharana admitted that Dushmanta was admitted to the hospital after a road accident. A team of doctors from the plastic surgery and orthopaedic departments had operated on the patient’s leg to save it. The surgery had lasted for 10 to 12 hours, he added.

The officer said SCB had provided the best treatment to Dushmanta free of cost and also called him to undergo physiotherapy. “After some days, he requested us to refer him to AIIMS Bhubaneswar. We accordingly discharged the patient and referred him to AIIMS Bhubaneswar,” Maharana said.