KENDRAPARA: The suicide of 26-year-old Dalit man inside the Kendrapara collectorate on Friday is gradually snowballing into a major political issue.
The deceased, identified as Sricharana Das of Raitundi village under Nikirei police limits. He reportedly hanged himself from the iron railings of the collector’s office with a towel at around 1 pm on Friday after being able to sell him land to buyers from the general category.
A delegation of the BJD, led by district unit president Shiba Prasad Bal, met Kendrapara collector Raghuram R Iyer on Saturday and demanded stringent action against officials allegedly responsible for driving Sricharana to suicide. The party workers also staged a demonstration in front of the collectorate. Senior BJD leader and Kendrapara MLA Ganeswar Behera demanded a thorough probe into the incident, alleging that the CCTV camera installed near the spot where he died by suicide were reportedly not functioning. He said that the government should provide adequate compensation to Sricharana’s family.
Meanwhile, district Lawyers’ Association president Rabi Narayan Mohanty said that Das had reportedly been trying for more than six months to obtain permission to sell a piece of land and faced repeated hurdles at various stages of the approval process in the sub-collector’s office. A delegation of the Lawyers’ Association met the collector on Saturday and demanded action against sub-collector Arun Nayak, alleging that delays in granting permission to sell the land contributed to the youth’s death.
When contacted, Nayak declined to comment on the matter. The district administration has launched an investigation into the incident. The collector said strict action would be taken against any official found guilty of wrongdoing or harassment.
Meanwhile, activist Bhajaman Biswal moved the NHRC on Saturday, seeking its intervention and appropriate legal action against officials reportedly responsible for the incident. In his petition, Biswal urged the commission to direct the Odisha government to pay Rs 50 lakh compensation to the deceased’s family and recover the amount from the salaries and benefits of officials found responsible. He also sought disciplinary action against officials accused of negligence and dereliction of duty.