Kantabanji: A few months after a woman committed suicide by consuming poison due to poverty and crop loss, her husband ended life Tuesday due to the same reasons at Dhushamunda village under Turekela block in Bolangir district.
The deceased was identified as Duryodhan Bag (55).
According to sources, Duryodhan consumed poison Tuesday evening. As the news spread, villagers rushed him to a local government hospital. However, he breathed his last in the night while undergoing treatment. Postmortem of the body was conducted in the same hospital.
Protesting alleged indifference of the state government towards farmer suicide, members of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a road blockade by placing the body of the deceased on Tinikonia road at NAC square Wednesday morning.
Vehicular traffic came to a standstill for a few hours due to the road-blockade led by the BJP members. Over a hundred BJP workers took part in the stir.
The agitation was withdrawn after tehsildar Subash Chandra Sethia, Turekela police station inspector-in-charge PK Karn and Kantabanji police station IIC Jyotirmaya Bhukta held discussions with the agitators and assured them to bear all last rites expenses. They also promised to provide a house under the Indira Awas Yojana to the kin of the deceased.
It may be mentioned here that Duryodhan’s wife Ujili Bag had ended life by consuming poison November 1 last year due to crop loss and debt burden. Residents led by BJP workers had also staged a road blockade at the same place for two hours at that time. They withdrew the stir after additional tehsildar Narottam Majhi, Turekela block development officer Ratanlal Munda and Hial panchayat sarpanch Padmini Sagria held discussions with the agitators and assured them of providing a house under Indira Awas Yojana and Rs 2,000 under Harishchandra Yojana to perform the last rites.
