40-year-old kills himself; another dies of sunstroke after 300km walk

BHUBANESWAR: An 40-year-old man from Odisha working with a plywood factory in Haryana hanged himself from a tree Gurugram’s Yamuna Vihar area, aa day after he posted a video on a social media site seeking help from the Odisha government and factory officials , officials said.

Gangadhar Biswal, a migrant worker from Bajapur village of Rajkanika block under Kendrapara district was found hanging from a tree early on Wednesday morning by his friends.

A few days ago, Biswal had recorded a video narrating how he wanted to come back to his village. Biswal had alleged that the company had defaulted in payment of their dues. In the purported video, a distraught Biswal had requested the company and the Odisha government to make arrangements for his return to his village, failing which he had threatened to commit suicide. A roommate of Biswal said that he was sick for past few days and was under severe mental duress.

Kendrapada district collector Samarth Verma said that he has spoken to Gurugram district collector. The collector said the block development officer has been asked to give ₹10000 to Biswal’s family.

In a separate incident, a 21-year-old migrant worker collapsed and died, apparently due to sunstroke at Bhadrachalam after walking 300 km from Hyderabad with three friends, to try and reach Odisha in view of the Covid-19 lockdown.

The group had set out on foot from Hyderabad on Sunday and were on their way to Malkangiri district in Odisha, officials said.

When they reached Bhadrachalam on Tuesday, the man complained of chest pain, vomited and collapsed on the road.

His friends informed police, who rushed him to the area hospital at Bhadrachalam, where he was declared brought dead.