Odisha: Devotee ‘kills self’ at Puri temple entrance

BHUBANESWAR: Puri woke up to the news of suicide of a devotee, a transgender person from Nimapara, right outside the Jagannath Temple on Sunday, a first in its history. Balaram Rout allegedly jumped to death from Gumuta, a 40-ft-high structure, at the entrance of the 12th century shrine.
To the utter shock of those present, the alleged suicide was committed in the presence of a posse of policemen, who were on duty at the temple.
Some servitors said Rout first offered prayers in the main temple and partook of the mahaprasad at Ananda Bazaar, an open-air space on the shrine’s premises where prasad is sold and distributed, on Sunday afternoon.
“Minutes later, we saw her climbing on to the Gumuta from the boundary wall of the adjacent Ananda Bazaar. We were taken aback and pleaded with her to come down,” Shyama Mohapatra, a servitor, said.