West Bengal: Nephew +ve, Malda man hangs self

MALDA: A 55-year-old farmer committed suicide in a Malda village in the small hours of Saturday, apparently apprehensive of a Covid-19 swab test and its possible outcome after one of his nephews, with whom he had spent a couple of days, tested positive.
Narayan Chandra Mandal was found hanging from a tree and his body sent for post mortem. Police superintendant Aloke Rajoria said the swab sample of the deceased had been collected.
Amid the lockdown, Mandal of Kanchan Nagar under Gazole police station went to guard the empty house of his nephews in Akanda village. His nephews, who work in Delhi, returned last week. Their swab samples were collected. The farmer decided to spend a couple of days with them.
Mandal’s son Parimal, too, wasn’t keen on his father returning home and advised him to stay on for a fortnight. “Malda has seen a spike in cases following the return of migrants. We, therefore, asked my father to stay in Akanda at least till his swab sample was taken and the report arrived,” Parimal said.
On Thursday, a medical team confirmed that one of Mandal’s nephews had tested positive. He was taken to hospital and his contacts were advised to stay home so that swab samples could be collected. This apparently left Mandal scared and he returned to his village the same evening. But, his son did not allow him to enter their house. Mandal went to neighbouring Mandalpara, but allegedly wasn’t allowed entry. He committed suicide soon thereafter.