NUAPADA: A debt-ridden couple, reportedly abandoned by their children, ended their lives by throwing themselves before a speeding Vande Bharat Express in Nuapada district on Tuesday night.
The deceased were identified as Jaduram Pandey (58) and his wife Jambai Pandey (56) of Silda village.
Sources said the couple was abandoned by their children and left to fend for themselves. With no steady income or family support, they had taken loans to meet their basic needs. They were reportedly under severe mental stress as money lenders were pressuring them for repayment.
On Tuesday evening, the couple visited a relative’s house in Kalyanpur. On their way back home, they stopped near the railway crossing between Nuapada and Khariar Road stations. All of a sudden, they jumped on to the tracks in front of the Visakhapatnam-Durg Vande Bharat Express. They were killed instantly.
Police sources said the couple was living in isolation for nearly two years after being separated from their children. Struggling under the weight of mounting debt and the humiliation of begging for survival, they saw no way out.
The mutilated bodies were recovered by Kantabanji GRP late in the night. After postmortem, the bodies were handed over to grieving relatives.
Local representatives including Dumerapani sarpanch Tekram Sahu, samiti member Churan Singh Majhi and Ward member Kailash Pandey extended assistance to the authorities in shifting the bodies. “It is heartbreaking to see elderly parents pushed to such extremes due to abandonment by their children. No one deserves to spend their final years in loneliness, debt and despair. As a society, we are failing if we cannot ensure dignity and support for our aged parents,” said Sahu.
(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.)