Five-year-old spends night in forest beside dying parents after they consume poison in Odisha
DEOGARH: A five year-old child had to spend a cold night in a forest as his parents lay beside him writhing in agony after consuming poison in a suicide bid, under Kundheigola police station area of Deogarh district. The couple from Jiantapali village took the extreme step following a quarrel on Saturday night.
Having undergone the ordeal the whole night, the little boy, however, displayed immense fortitude when he rushed out of the forest at daybreak and alerted the locals of the incident. The parents, though, could not be saved.
According to sources, the deceased Dushmant Majhi, his wife Rinki and their son were returning home on Saturday evening from the woman’s parental house when a quarrel reportedly broke out between them. As tension escalated, they parked the motorcycle near Dalak roadside and walked into the nearby forest where they consumed poison.
The little child witnessed the incident helplessly as Dushmant and Rinki struggled for life and then went still. The child remained beside his father and mother throughout the night inside the forest.
On Sunday morning, he came out of the forest and stopped passersby on the road, narrating the incident. Locals immediately informed the police outpost under Kundheigola Police Station. Acting on the information, police rushed to the spot and found Dushmant dead, but Rinki in a critical unconscious state. They rescued the couple and the child around 10 am and shifted them to Chhendipada hospital in Angul district.
Doctors declared Dushmant dead on arrival, while Rinki was referred in a critical condition to Angul district headquarters hospital for treatment. She also succumbed in the afternoon. Suspecting that the child may have also consumed poison, doctors provided medical care to him as well.
Additional SP Dhiraj Chopdar said, “The couple were in their 30s. Investigation is underway to ascertain under what circumstances they took the extreme step and which poison did they consume. The custody of the child has been given to his maternal grandparents. While the post mortem of the man was conducted today, the woman’s autopsy will be conducted on Monday.”
(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050, Tele Manas - 14416 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)