Protest: Mother, son attempt suicide by self-immolation for police inaction
By Amar Barik
Bhadrak ,Feb. 5: A mother-son duo on Friday attempted to set them on fire while staging a protest in front of Odisha’s Bhadrak Superintendent of Police (SP) office for reportedly not getting justice over a land dispute case.
According to sources, Jyotsnarani Patra and his son Panchanana Patra tried self-immolation by pouring kerosene on themselves. However, alert security personnel immediately intervened and prevented them from lighting the matchstick.
While being taken to custody, Panchanana said they resorted to take the extreme step as they are unable to get justice from the district administration.
Panchanana alleged that despite having a degree from the court over the ownership of a piece of land, the same has not been transferred to them. This apart another person is also encroaching the piece of the land.
The mother-son duo said that despite moving from pillar to post, be it seeking intervention of the district Collector, the SP and even the local police stations so many times, they are yet to get justice.
Asked about the incident, a police official at the spot said, “We have initiated a probe into the incident. We can only say anything only after getting the report.”
Earlier on Thursday, a Gram Rojgar Sevak (GRS) of Guagadhia panchayat under Basudevpur block in the district had attempted self-immolation over ‘non-payment’ of his dues for the last several months.
The GRS Utkal Mallik alleged that the Basudevpur block development officer (BDO) is not releasing his salary even after over 10 months. He further alleged that the BDO is intentionally not releasing his salary over personal enmity.
