Bhubaneswar: Distressed for a prolonged period over reasons best known to them, many people succumb to the mental duress and finally end their miseries by ending their lives. With as many as five cases of self-immolation bids in Odisha in less than three months, the Opposition has come down heavily on the police and administration for being incapable to provide justice to citizens. Lawyers, however, have opined that self-immolation to avail justice is never justified.
Below is a record of notable self-immolation attempts to draw the government’s attention amid alleged police inaction. Ever since the story of Nayagarh minor girl came to the fore in November when her parents resorted to taking extreme measures to end their lives, the trend of seeking justice the self-immolation-way has refused to die down.
On November 24, 2020, a couple from Nayagarh district attempted self-immolation near Odisha Assembly protesting the alleged police inaction over their 5-year-old daughter's abduction and murder in July.
Four days later at the same spot, a mother-son duo of Kujang in the Jagatsinghpur district tried to set themselves afire after being unable to get justice from the police in Jagatsinghpur.
In the middle of a hunger strike by Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) workers in Bhubaneswar PMG square in December last year seeking regularisation of jobs, two ANMs poured kerosene on their bodies in an attempt to immolate themselves but were overpowered by other protesting workers.
On the 4th of February, a Gram Rojgar Sevak (GRS) of Guagadhia panchayat under Basudevpur block in Bhadrak district attempted self-immolation over ‘non-payment’ of his dues for the last several months. The GRS Utkal Mallik alleged that Basudevpur BDO is not releasing his salary even after over 10 months.
On Friday (February 5), a woman and her son tried to commit suicide by self-immolation in front of Bhadrak SP office reportedly for having been failed to get justice in a land dispute case. Police arrested Jyotsnarani Patra and her son Panchanana under IPC Section 309 but later released both of them on bail.
Senior lawyer Sourachandra Mohapatra has termed this trend as unfortunate and said resorting to such illegal route to get justice is not right. "There is a provision to reprimand those who survive self-immolation because it is necessary to maintain a balance in the social order. Such things will instigate others to choose the route to seek justice."
The BJP and the Congress have blamed the government stating that it lacks competency which is why people are denied access to justice.
"The incompetency of police and administration is clearly evident. Some police stations have a shortage of police personnel and staff, and somewhere something else is the problem. There are many reasons why people here are denied justice. This is forcing them to die by suicide," said State BJP spokesperson Golak Mohapatra.
Similarly, Congress leader Sudarsan Das said, "All these back-to-back incidents prove that the legal system we have in place to hear grievances of people is out of order. The government should accept the fact."