Alipurduar, March 3 -- The unnatural deaths of three members of a mahout's family at the Jaldapara Forest department's Madarihat Range government quarters caused a sensation on Monday morning.
The police recovered the hanging body of Rabi Oraon (30) from one room, while the bodies of his mother, Baby Lohar Oraon (52) and nephew, Vivek Oraon (13), were found lifeless on the floor of an adjacent room. Following an initial investigation, the police suspect that Rabi may have taken his own life after allegedly suffocating his mother and nephew.
The residence has been sealed for further investigation and the incident has cast a pall of grief over Jaldapara National Park. The bodies were sent to Cooch Behar MJN Medical College for post-mortem examination.
Mahout Binod Oraon lived in the residence with his wife, two children, mother and brother. Binod left for duty at 4 am on Monday. When he returned at 8 am, he found Rabi's body hanging and his mother lying dead nearby. Around the same time, Vivek's school called to inform him that his son had not appeared for an exam.
Binod immediately alerted the police and forest officials. Notably, his wife, Pushpa, remained unharmed as she was sleeping in another room.
Rabi had been struggling with depression over prolonged unemployment. Following the death of his father, Malo Oraon, in 2014 while working in the Forest department, Rabi had been waiting for a job under compassionate appointment rules.
As time passed without confirmation, he became increasingly distressed. Binod recalled an unsettling moment the night before the incident. "I was shocked when my brother burned all his books and certificates on Sunday night. But I never imagined he would take such a drastic step," he said.
District Superintendent of Police Y Raghuvamshi stated: "The exact cause of death will be determined after the autopsy. Police are conducting a thorough investigation."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.