In Third Such Incident, Mother, Son Attempt To Set Themselves Ablaze Near Odisha Assembly

A mother-son duo attempted to set themselves on fire near the Odisha assembly on Saturday, the third such incident in less than a week, to draw the government's attention amid alleged police inaction.

Sulochana Das and her son Subrat Das, belonging to Jagatsinghpur district, attempted to set themselves on fire near IG Park, close to the assembly premises, officials said. However, alert security personnel immediately intervened and prevented them from lighting the matchstick though by then they had managed to pour kerosene on themselves, officials added.

Sulochana said she travelled all the way to Bhubaneswar and tried to die by suicide after being unable to get justice for her son from police authorities in Jagatsinghpur. Her other son Ambrut Das was “killed” on July 20 last year and police officials allegedly closed the investigation into the matter after registering a case of unnatural death, she claimed.

"I know my brother was killed, but the police failed to deliver justice. We have also approached several forums seeking justice," Subrat said before being whisked away by the police.

At present, the Odisha Assembly is in session.

On Friday, three farmers attempted self-immolation near the assembly gate, alleging that some unknown persons availed loans in their names from the Cuttack District Cooperative Bank and that they failed to get justice even after lodging multiple complaints with the police.
On Tuesday, a couple from the Nayagarh district had also attempted to set themselves on fire in front of the Assembly, seeking justice for their minor daughter who was kidnapped and subsequently killed on July 14.

Following the earlier two incidents, security was beefed up around the Assembly premises. Due to this, the mother-son duo could not reach the assembly gate and attempted self-immolation near IG Park, which is close by.