Tribal youth in quarantine hangs himself to death in Odisha

A 29-year-old tribal man from Odisha, who had returned from Himachal Pradesh in February and was suspected to be infected with Covid-19 virus, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree near the quarantine centre where he was kept.

Police officials in Rourkela said Anand Lakra of Badagaon village in Gurundia block of Sundargarh district was put under quarantine at the government high school of Gurundia panchayat samiti.

The officials said that Lakra, who had returned from Himachal Pradesh in the second week of February, did not show any symptoms of the disease at first. However, a couple of days ago he developed flu-like symptoms after which the villagers asked him to visit the local community health centre for screening.

“As the people in the village were very sensitive about anyone showing symptoms of flu, they pressured him to get tested. At the CHC, Lakra was checked by the doctor who ruled out him being infected by the virus. The youth, however, insisted that he be quarantined as the villagers would not let him in. So he was put in the quarantine facility in a school near his locality,” said Syed Mujibur Rehman, additional SP of Rourkela.

On Tuesday night, Lakra sneaked out of the quarantine facility and hanged himself from a teak tree. His body was spotted by other people in the quarantine facility on Wednesday morning. Police said they have started an investigation into the incident.

Lakra is survived by his widowed mother. Sundargarh district has not reported a single positive case of Covid-19 so far.