The abnormally high suicide rates in Tripura have prompted a special puja at the village, under Teliamura subdivision of West Tripura, tomorrow night. The village, situated in the foothills of the Atharomura range, is populated by 500 farmers and small traders, and has witnessed 16 cases of suicide over the past year.
The villagers contacted a sorcerer, Kashinath Koch, from the nearby Koch colony, to perform Kali Puja and other rituals at midnight tomorrow. “We are organising the puja because nothing else is there to do. The priest surveyed the village and its environs on April 28 and assured us that evil supernatural forces have cast a spell on the village.
The forces can be neutralised by organising the puja,” said Upendra Sarkar, panchayat chief of Shantinagar. Funds amounting to Rs 20,000 have been raised for the puja, of which the priest will take Rs 15,000. The rest of the funds will be used for the rituals.
Shantinagar had witnessed 15 suicides earlier. The villagers were finally spurred into action on April 21, when 36-year-old Jibon Ghosh, a shopkeeper who was fairly well off, committed suicide by hanging in his shop in the afternoon.
