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Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneswar
A 50-year-old man has ended his life by burning himself on his wife's funeral pyre in a village in Orissa, a local language daily reported on Saturday.
Sanatan Mohanty of Kansargoda village in Dhenkanal district died on Friday at a hospital, Oriya daily Pragativadi reported.
He had been admitted at the SCB Hospital on Thursday with severe burn injuries.
Mohanty, who did not have any children, was depressed at the death of his wife Sanjubala Mohanty, 42, who had for long been suffering from diabetes.
She died Thursday at the SCB medical college hospital after a week of treatment there, the paper said.
Unable to bear his grief, Mohanty hurled himself at his wife's funeral pyre in the village, the paper said. By the time the villagers could rescue him, he was already burnt badly.
He was shifted to the SCB medical college hospital where he died Friday, the paper said.
Mohanty, who worked as a bus driver in the state-run transport corporation, was in financial difficulties as a result of his wife's protracted illness, the paper said.
His suicide has attracted attention, as it is an instance of reverse 'sati', a traditional Indian practice whereby Hindu widows immolated on their husband's funeral pyre.
Though the British rulers banned the ritual in 1829, stray cases have been reported till as recently as 1980 in Rajasthan state.
Indo-Asian News Service
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