Mother, son attempt self-immolation near Odisha Assembly in third such incident

Alert security personnel prevented the incident after stopping them from lighting a matchstick

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, of Kujang in the 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 they had poured kerosene on themselves, they said.

While being taken to custody, Sulochana said she travelled all the way to Bhubaneswar and tried to die by suicide after being unable to get justice from the police in Jagatsinghpur.

Her other son Ambrut Das was allegedly killed on July 20, 2019, and police closed the investigation into the matter after registering a case of unnatural death, she alleged.

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

The assembly is at present in the 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 but they have failed to get justice even after lodging 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.