65-year-old woman commits 'sati' by jumping on funeral pyre of husband in Bihar

December 15, 2014

SatiBihar, Dec 15: A 65-year-old woman allegedly committed 'sati' by jumping into the funeral pyre of her husband in a village in Bihar's Saharsa district.

Saharsa Superintendent of Police Pankaj Sinha said it happened at Parminia village under Kahra block in the district, around 250 km from the state capital, and the deceased woman has been identified Dahwa Devi.

"Her husband Charitra Yadav (70) had been suffering from cancer for a long time. He died yesterday. His children and relatives arrived in the afternoon and took his body for cremation near a temple in the village," the SP said.

The last rites got over by evening and the group of people returned and was taking bath near a village borewell. The deceased woman and her daughter-in-law had remained at their home as per the custom.

Meanwhile, Yadav's son Ramesh Mandal started searching for his mother so that she could also take a bath, but she was nowhere to be found. Somebody told the grieving family that Devi was seen going towards the place where Yadav was cremated.

"Mandal and other family members ran towards the place and saw that Devi had already jumped into the funeral pyre and died. They then performed her last rites too in the same pyre," Sinha said.

The SP, who had rushed to the village to investigate the incident, said funeral pyres in Saharsa area are traditionally made of timber, sandalwood, cow-dung cakes and other combustible materials. They on an average are around four feet high and burn for a long time. The pyre into which Devi jumped had much fire when the incident happened.

The SP said the entire incident happened within a span of 30 minutes after Yadav's cremation got over and the family members returned to take bath.

"We have probed the incident and also video recorded the statements of the villagers. They all have corroborated the incident. Devi was grieving, but otherwise, was mentally sound. We have taken it as suicide and not filed a case in the matter," the SP said.

'Sati' refers to a funeral ritual in which a recently widowed woman immolates herself on the husband's funeral pyre.

The practice was banned by a law passed by William Bentick, the Governor of Bengal in 1829 in Bengal Presidency, which was later extended in 1830 to Madras and Bombay Presidencies.

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Agencies
July 4,2020

The Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Department (CBCID) of Tamil Nadu Police has arrested suspended constable Muthuraj.

Wanted in the Tuticorin custodial deaths of P Jeyaraj and his son J Bennicks, Muthuraj was arrested on late Friday.

Muthuraj was later remanded to the judicial custody till July 17.

Jeyaraj and Bennicks had been booked for not closing their mobile shop in time on June 19 by the Sathankulam police. They were sent to judicial custody and lodged in the Kovilpatti jail on June 21.

Jeyaraj died on June 22 night and Bennicks on June 23 morning in judicial custody, allegedly due to the police torture.

The Madras High Court while hearing the case had said there was prima facie evidence to register a murder case against the Sathankulam police officials.

The court also transferred the probe into the deaths of Jeyaraj and Bennicks to the CBCID to gather and protect the evidence till the case is handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

It has also initiated criminal contempt cases against three police officials -- Additional Superintendent of Police Kumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police Prathapan and constable Maharajan -- for their behaviour at the Sathankulam police station in front of Kovilpatti Judicial Magistrate MS Bharathidasan who had gone for an inquiry.

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News Network
May 9,2020

Shillong, May 9: The poisonous mushrooms that killed six people at a remote village in Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills district have been identified as Amanita phalloides, commonly known as the 'Death Cap', a senior official said on Saturday.

Six people, including a 14-year-old girl, of Lamin village along the India-Bangladesh border in Amlarem civil sub-division died after consuming wild mushrooms they collected from a nearby forest late last month.

The wild mushroom has been identified as Amanita phalloides and is hepatotoxic as it directly affects the liver, state Director of Health Services (MI) Dr Aman War told PTI.

He said it has been established after an investigation that the cause of the deaths was the poisonous mushrooms.

At least 18 persons from three families were taken ill after consuming the mushrooms.

The symptoms after consuming the poisonous fungus include vomiting, headache and unconsciousness, the senior doctor said.

Most of those taken ill, including a pregnant woman, have already recovered and gone home. Therefore, people can survive as it depends on the amount of poison that you have consumed. Only one person was unaffected, maybe he did not consume much, he said.

Three people are still undergoing treatment and are recovering. Two of them are at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) and one in Woodland Hospital, Dr War said.

He said the health department can only appeal to the people, especially those in the rural areas, to refrain from eating wild mushrooms, while the horticulture department should take measures to create awareness.

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News Network
March 28,2020

Hyderabad, Mar 28: Seven labourers from Karnataka were killed and four injured when the van in which they were travelling was hit by a truck near Pedda Golconda on the outskirts of the city late on Friday night, police said.

The deceased included two children. Of the 31 workers in the van, five died on the spot and two while undergoing treatment at a hospital, Assistant Commissioner of Traffic Vishwa Prasad said.
Four others were hospitalised and the condition of one of them is critical, he said, adding the other workers in the van escaped with minor injuries.

The workers were on their way back to their home town Raichur in Karnataka as the road project they were working in at Suryapet here was stalled due to the lockdown, Prasad said.

He said initital investigations revealed that the mango laden truck, which was on its way to Gujarat, was overspeeding.

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