Daringbadi/Brahmanigaon: In a heartrending incident, family members of a construction labourer were forced to carry his body on shoulders for 5 km, followed by his weeping kin at Brahmanigaon area under this police limits in tribal-dominated Kandhamal district.
The deceased was identified as Prashant Kumar Bisoyi, a construction worker of Kinarigaon village.
Sources said, the family did not get a hearse van to shift the body. The man was electrocuted while being engaged in a construction work. His family members alleged that due to unavailability of hearse in the PHC, they were forced to carry the body on shoulders.
“After post-mortem at Brahmanigaon primary health centre (PHC), the local police handed over the body to family members. When their attempt to get a hearse failed, they had no other option but to carry the body from Brahmanigaon to Kinarigaon on their shoulders,” the deceased’s wife Jharana Bisoyi said.
According to sources, Prashant was engaged in the installation of a transformer at a power substation of Brahmanigaon. While he was working, he accidentally came in contact with a live electric wire and was electrocuted. He was rushed to Brahmanigaon PHC where doctors declared him brought dead.
Following the incident, family members of the deceased and locals protested, staging a road blockade by keeping the body on the Daringbadi-Brahmanigaon main road.
The agitators alleged that even as work was underway for installation of a high-power transformer, no staff of Southco was present at the spot. Instead, they had engaged construction labourers for the work.
Moreover, power supply was not disconnected during the construction work, they alleged. The protesters demanded compensation for the kin of the deceased.
PNN