Imagine a life where everything you've worked for – your home, your land, your very livelihood – is suddenly taken away. That's the heartbreaking reality facing Deba Behera, his wife Taramani, and their younger son Sudarshan's family in Satyabadi, Odisha. Driven to utter despair, they've made a plea that no one should ever have to make: a request for euthanasia, a permission to die. This isn't a story about abstract legal concepts; it's a story about a family pushed to the brink, and the eldest son.
Join the Whatsapp Channel to Get News updates in english
Betrayal and Debt
For over four decades, Deba and his family relied on their small plot of land in Balapur Panchayat's Behera Sahi. It was their everything – their source of food, their security, their home. But that security was shattered when they discovered their elder son, Dhadu, had secretly sold their land. Dhadu working as a gangman with the railways in Puri, lives with his wife in Jatani, seemingly indifferent to his family's suffering.
The betrayal goes deeper. Dhadu also mortgaged their four-decimal house plot to a bank for a substantial loan of 42 lakhs. The family, unaware of this, continued their simple lives, cultivating the land. Soon, they were bombarded with bank notices – 18 in just six months! The bank has now posted an auction notice on their house, threatening to leave them homeless. The house and the land, were the only source of living.
The new "owners" of the land, Satyabadi Panchayat Samiti Vice-Chairperson Nibedita Patra, her husband Prakash Pradhan, and others, allegedly arrived with a group, forcefully plowed their field and destroying their crops, and even threatened Deba when he tried to stop them. It's important to note that since Deba belongs to a Scheduled Caste, the buyers, being from the general category, couldn't directly purchase the land. The land case, is in court. Dhadhu used to say, that it is his property, and that he would sell.
Deba even filed a complaint at the police station, but alleges that he was warned by an officer not to go to the land, and was threatened with jail. The family have lost everything, and have nowhere to go.
A Plea for Dignity in the Face of Despair
With no home, no land, and no income, Deba, Taramani, Sudarshan, and Sudarshan's wife Pushpanjali, along with Sudharshan's daughter have written a heartbreaking letter to the President of India, requesting euthanasia. They've even asked that Sudarshan's infant daughter be placed in an orphanage, a testimony to their utter desperation.
This case lays bare some difficult issues, and a son's actions. The details of Dhadu's actions, the alleged involvement of the local officials, and the bank's aggressive pursuit of the loan all paint a complex picture. The family's request for euthanasia is a tragic cry for help, a desperate attempt to find some dignity in a situation that has stripped them of everything else.
