Suicide Outside Odisha Assembly: Police Lodge Murder Case; CBI Probe Sought

Bhubaneswar: In a twist to the death of a youth after he attempted to commit suicide outside the Odisha Assembly, police have lodged a murder case.

The 30-year-old youth, Dushmanta Das, had consumed poison and slit his wrist outside the Assembly on Wednesday, alleging medical apathy and denial of free treatment under the state government’s BSKY scheme. He later died while undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

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A day later on Thursday, Dushmanta’s mother lodged a complaint at Kujang police station in Jagatsinghpur district. She alleged some people had taken her son to Bhubaneswar and forced him to take poison and slit his wrist.

Police said they have registered a murder case against unknown persons based on the woman’s complaint, “We have filed a case under IPC Section 302. We will soon transfer the case to the Commissionerate Police in Bhubaneswar where the incident occurred,” Jagatsinghpur SP Akhileswar Singh told the media.

CBI Probe Demand

In a related development, Odisha BJP has demanded a CBI probe into Dushmanta’s death. Senior party leader Manmohan Samal also asked the state government to provide a financial assistance of Rs 30 lakh to the deceased’s daughter and Rs 20 lakh to the bereaved family.

Samal made the demand after he led a BJP delegation to meet Dushmanta’s family at Pakapal village near Kujang.

Earlier, the opposition BJP and Congress had created uproar on the Assembly premises and alleged that the suicide highlighted the poor implementation of the BSKY scheme in Odisha.

SCB Clean Chit

Meanwhile, a probe committee at SCB has refuted the deceased’s charge that he was prematurely discharged from the hospital in July last year due to COVID.

Dushmanta had also alleged that he was denied readmission later for an unhealed wound on his leg while a private hospital refused him free treatment under the government’s healthcare scheme.

However, the SCB probe panel comprising seven senior doctors told the government that there was neither denial of free treatment nor medical negligence in the patient’s discharge.