Rajesh Kumar Behera in Kendrapara, India
A debt ridden fisherman of sea side Bengali dominated village of Kharanashi on Tuesday committed suicide after losing his mental balance following he lost his fishing net (kani jala) in the sea after the forest officials ,who were patrolling the sea on 12th December allegedly tried to intercept his boat while he was illegally catching fish inside the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary .
According to sources, a 40-years old debt ridden fisherman, Harekrushan Sikhdar , of Kharnashi village on Tuesday committed suicide by consuming poison after losing his mental balance at Nehru Bungalow fishing jetty following he failed to find his net which he lost in the sea.
If sources are to be believed, the poverty stricken fisherman , Harekrushan Sikhdar , who was a driver in a sea worthy mechanized boat of a Paradeep bound owner and collecting his bread and butter by catching fish in the sea , on 12th December had gone to catch fish at Bay of Bengal .He was allegedly catching fish illegally by entering into the prohibited zone of Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary . While he was catching fish in the sea , a forest patrolling team ,who was entrusted to guard the coast in order to provide security to the endangered Olive ridely turtle and to curb down fishing illegally inside the prohibited zone of Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary allegedly chased to the boat of the Harekrushna Sikhdar.As a result, in order to avert himself from the arrest of the forest officials for illegally entering into the marine sanctuary and catching fish with the boat and also to save the boat from the seizure, the ill fated Sikhdar fled from the spot by leaving his fishing net ,whose cost would be of about Rs 1.50 lakh .
Later , on the next day he went to the sea in search of his net that he left in the sea ,but in vein . Later, he went to the fishing jetty at Nehru Bungalow and asked his fellow fisherman about his net. When Harekrushna Sikhdar failed to get his net , being depressed and allegedly lost his mental balance and committed suicide by consuming poison, informed Manohar . Sikhdar, the father of the ill fated Harekrushna Sikhdar.
Locals alleged that Harekrushna Sikhdar allegedly by borrowing money from the local money lender and also by conducting loans in the local financial institution allegedly prepared the Kani net. But when he came to know that the net is not with him and he would not able to repay the loan amount ,so he might have taken such a drastic step by committing suicide , informed Anatha Das, the president of Kharanashi boat owner’s association.
Police later seized the body of the deceased Sikhdar and sent it for autopsy at Kujanga hospital . The deceased was survived by his old parents , his widow Satyabati Sikhdar , his 15 years old son , Ram Krushna Sikhdar, and his 11-year old son, Biswamaya Sikhdar.
The last rites of the deceased is going to be held on Wednesday as his spouse and his two sons ,who were in the house of the decased’s father –in-law at Murshidabad in West Bengal , were returning to Kharnashi.
Meanwhile ,Palpable tension mounted in the village Kharanashi and its nearby areas after the fisherman community came to know about the untimely demise of Harekrushna.
About 8 marine fishermen of the coastal pockets of Kendrapara district committed suicide in last four years after they lost their sole livelihood of fishing after the state government imposed a six months fishing ban every year on the sea in the name to protect the endangered sea turtles. As a result, several fishermen became paupers and lost their mental balance due to fishing ban, alleged Narayan Haldar ,the secretary of Orissa Traditional Fish workers Union (OTFWU)
