BERHAMPUR: Ostracised for close to four years, a 48-year-old villager of Digapahandi block in Ganjam on Monday surprised the top district administration by seeking euthanasia for himself and his family members.
Santosh Behera, a resident of Babulibandha village, recounted his ordeal when Ganjam collector V Keerthi Vasan along with other officials was hearing the grievance of public in Digapahandi block office.
Behera claimed that in the 2022 panchayat elections, his sister-in-law Ranju Behera had contested for the post of sarpanch but lost to opponent Priyanka Nayak by a margin of 17 votes. Since the election, a particular community of the village boycotted the family. The family was neither invited to social functions nor does any villager talk with the family, he alleged.
“My family is under immense mental trauma since the past four years and not in a position to stay as an alien in our own village,” he said.
Behera appealed for mercy death for himself and his family at the collector’s grievance cell. His story took the officials by surprise but Vasan gave Behera a patient hearing and assured him that measures would be undertaken.
The collector reportedly asked Digapahandi tehsildar Santosh Kumar Sahu, block development officer Anamika Pandey to look into the matter immediately. He also asked the officials to go to the village with police and hold discussion with the villagers for a permanent solution to the matter.