Balangir: Two married couples passed away barely hours apart in Odisha’s Balangir and Kendrapada districts.
According to sources, Sebak Bag met with an accident near Randa square on Balangir-Sonepur road late on Thursday. He, along with his nephew, was admitted to Bhima Bhoi Medical College & Hospital at Balangir town. However, he died during treatment. When his wife Padmini Bag reached the hospital and realised her husband was no more, she jumped from the surgery ward in distress. She too succumbed to her injuries.
Their families and the entire village are in mourning.
The couple is survived by two children. Punitala Block Development Officer (BDO) Pramod Kumar Nayak reached the hospital and assured assistance to the bereaved family. “This is an unfortunate incident. We will hand over Rs 40,000 from the Red Cross Society to the family. Another Rs 6,000 will be disbursed for the last rites of the deceased persons under Harischandra Sahayata Yojana,” Puintala BDO told a local news channel.
Similarly in Kendrapada, a man, Gobinda Chandra Sahoo, collapsed and died while performing the last rites of his wife, Ketanbala Sahoo, at Shankarpur village under Kurujanga panchayat, turning a moment of mourning into double tragedy.
Sources said that Gobinda fell unconscious moments after lighting the funeral pyre. Family members attempted to revive him, but he too passed away. Following which, the couple, bound in life, was cremated side by side in death. “My father passed away two hours after my mother’s demise. The duo loved each other very much,” the grieving son, Krushna Chardra Sahoo.
