Woman poisons two sons, self

Jagatsinghpur: In a shocking incident, a woman consumed poison after poisoning her two minor sons at Punanga village under Sadar police limits in Jagatsinghpur district today.

While her three-year-old boy died soon after being poisoned, the woman and her elder son aged four are fighting for their life at the district headquarters hospital.

Though the police has begun investigation into the incident, it is yet to ascertain the exact cause for the extreme step taken by the woman.

According to reports, Rama Soren and his wife Sabitri Soren of Khadibadi village of Sagadapata panchayat in Keonjhar district, along with their two sons, had come to Punanga village in search of work three days ago.

This morning, while Rama had gone to work on daily wage, his wife administered pesticides to her two sons and later consumed pesticides herself.

While the youngest son Sanu died shortly, the mother and her other son fell critically ill. Neighbours rushed them to the hospital after they came to know about the incident.

Replying to a question by the media persons at the hospital as to why she took such a decision, Sabitri said she did not know that the container had pesticides in it. “I don’t know who had kept the container and I had no idea that it was a poison,” she said.

“There was absolutely no quarrel with my wife. I don’t know why she did this and from where she got the pesticides. I had come to this village where my brother-in-law stays. Since there was no work for me in my village, I had come here in search of work to run my family,” the hapless husband told media persons.

Narrating the incident, Rama’s eldest son Suna said his mother gave him the bottle and asked him to drink the liquid. “When I took one sip, I could not take it. But my younger brother took three sips. My father had gone to the field for work. I don’t know from where she found the bottle,” he said sobbing.

Asked about the incident, SDPO, Jagatsinghpur Manoj Kumar Mohanta said preliminary investigation has revealed that the woman is mentally unsound. “We are investigating the case and trying to find out the exact cause which had forced her to kill her two sons and herself,” he added.