COVID-19 patient’s uncle kills self in Odisha

BALANGIR:  Driven to a state of panic following detection of coronavirus cases in the village, a 50-year-old man allegedly committed suicide at Likhiria on Wednesday. The body of Sukadev Bhoi was recovered by police and fire personnel from a well in the village. He had been missing since Sunday. He was found to have tied a stone to the lungi before jumping into the well.

Bhoi was the elder uncle of one of the two youths from the village who had tested positive on May 1. They had returned from Tamil Nadu on March 17. They tested positive after 40 days, when they complained of fever and their samples were taken on April 28.Likhiria and 20 other villages were declared a containment zone on May 1 following confirmation of Covid-19 in the youth. Swab samples of people across the villages in the containment zone havee been collected and sent for tests.

Villagers said, Bhoi was upset after two persons, including his relative, were detected in the village and may have taken the extreme step out of fear of the disease.Sadar SDPO Srimanta Barik and Balangir sub-collector Sanjaya Mishra said Bhoi’s body was sent for post-mortem and a probe is being conducted to ascertain the cause of death.