Udupi: Karkala youth working in Odisha dies by consuming poison

Karkala: A youth from Karkala, who had consumed poison while in Odisha, died on the way to Udupi, police said.

Karkala police handed over the body of the youth to the family on Saturday, three days after the death. They blamed the refusal by Odisha police in registering a complaint as the reason for the delay.

Karthik (25), a cousin of Dharmendra and a native of Kasaba here, was working as a Safety Supervisor at a company in Mangaluru for 5 years. He was deputed to Odisha by the company.

On January 14, Dharmendra received an urgent phone call from Kushal, the company’s manager in Mangaluru. He was told that his brother had consumed poison and was admitted to the Relax Hospital in Cuttack. After informing the family, Dharmendra along with his relatives Velu and Krishna left for Cuttack and reached there on January 17.

Karthik who was very ill could not even speak to those who visited him at the time. The hospital informed the family that they needed to arrange more money for the treatment. There was a hospital bill outstanding for the treatment amounting to Rs 94,000.

The family decided to transfer Karthik to Udupi for treatment and visited Mangal Bagh police station to get the necessary clearances. Arrangements were made to ferry the patient in an ambulance.

On January 19, Karthik’s health condition further deteriorated while still on the way to Udupi, and was rushed to a nearby government hospital for emergency care. However, he was declared dead on arrival.

The mortal remains were kept in the mortuary of Manipal KMC Hospital for completion of police formalities. Karkala police relayed the death of Karthik to their counterparts in Paradeep Lock in Odisha as the suicide attempt fell under their jurisdiction. As per rules, Odisha police have to register a case and release the body to the kin.

However, Paradeep Lock police refused to travel to Udupi to take stock of the incident. Even after the office of Udupi Superintendent of Police (SP) talked to  SP in Odisha the police were reluctant to visit Karkala.

Udupi SP later made an arrangement to file a suo motu case at Karkala city police station and aided in the handover of the body to the mother of the deceased.

 

Suicide is preventable. If you get any such thoughts, consult or seek expert help.

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