Odisha woman attempts self-immolation on premises of Dharmasala tehsil office

JAJPUR:  A 50-year-old woman attempted self-immolation on the premises of Dharmasala tehsil office on Monday, December 20, 2021, alleging harassment by the local tehsildar. The victim was identified as Anima Rout of Neulpur village. She poured kerosene on herself and was about to light a match when locals and tehsil office staff overpowered her. She was rushed to the nearby hospital for treatment. 

Sources said Anima has been making rounds of the Dharmasala tehsil office to sell a piece of land to meet educational expenses of her two sons. Despite running from pillar to post, she was unable to sell the land.
“I had approached Dharmasala tehsildar for permission to sell a piece of consolidated land four months back. The tehsildar directed me to go to the revenue inspector (RI) office. I collected the necessary report from the RI and again met the tehsildar. But he directed me to contact Jajpur Sub-Collector’s office,” Anima said.

After trying for a month, she got the sanction from the Sub-Collector. “I met the tehsildar with all the reports a couple of weeks back and he told me to come after some days. On Monday, I met him in his office chamber and sought permission to sell the land. However, he refused and said it is chaka land. He also misbehaved with me,” she alleged.

Anima further said despite putting in her best of efforts for the last four months, she failed to sell the land for the education of her sons. “I decided to take the extreme step after facing harassment in the tehsil office,” she added.

Contacted, Jajpur Collector Chakravarti Singh Rathore said the victim’s land is not permitted under law for sale. “The Chakabandi law doesn’t allow fragmentation of the land holding for sale,” he added.