𝟰𝟳-𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝗢𝗹𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿

Yeshey Lhadon

The body of a 47-year-old man from Umling, Gelephu was handed over to his parents yesterday evening around 5 pm by the neighbouring citizens.

The local leaders claimed that the deceased ran away from his house at Rejuke around 8 am yesterday and entered Bagmara, India illegally.

“The deceased was to be taken to the hospital. We were waiting for a vehicle but he insisted on a washroom. The border duty let him go but instead, he started running towards Bagmara, the Indian Border market. We lost sight of him in a second,” said the deceased’s brother.

According to the deceased’s mother, he suffered from alcohol withdrawal symptoms after he quit drinking for almost 10 days.

The deceased lived with his aging parents and a daughter at Rejuke on the periphery of the border (150 meters away from the border) with no one in the neighbourhood.

The family claimed that he suffered hallucinations the night before he acted out of his mind.

Deceased’s father performed shamanic rituals in the morning before losing him across the border.

The search team of 12 people including the deceased’s parents, police, local leaders, border duty and some locals looked for him about four hours.

“Since we are restricted from entering the border town, and it rained heavily at the same time, we lost track of his footprint. But we requested neighbouring citizens to assist,” said one of the search team.

The family suspects no foul play. “He must have slipped and fell off in the earth drain irrigation channel. The Indians found him with his facedown at their paddy field.”

Damra is en route to Bangmara. The deceased was found about 300 meters away from the Bhutan border. And it would take 15-20 minutes, however, it’s a restricted area.

“The deceased didn’t have any physical injury. The medical report stated that he drank the irrigation water and choked to death,” said the deceased’s brother.

Umling’s local leaders claimed that most of the societal issues in their community are the result of alcohol. “Moreover, villagers always resort to shamanic rituals rather than taking the sick to hospital,” added the local leader.