No cricket on TV, boy commits suicide

Bhubaneswar: A 17-year-old boy in an Orissa village committed suicide after his father prevented him from watching the live telecast of the One-day International cricket match between India and Zimbabwe Saturday, police said. Sarat Mandal of Nendara village in the cyclone devastated Jagatsingpur district hanged himself from the ceiling after his father asked him to work instead of going to a neighbouring village to watch the game on television. Electricity supply to Nendara village has been cut off ever since the killer cyclone last year. The village is situated around 20 km from Jagatsingpur town and around 90 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar. Police said Sarat's father Bich Mandal worked as a daily wage labourer in a neighbour's house. He had lost his wife in last year's cyclone. Sarat too worked with his father. The police said Sarat was reluctant to work as all his friends were going to watch the cricket telecast. However, his father forced him to work. When he returned in the afternoon, Sarat found that all his friends were still in the other village watching the game. Upset over this, he then hanged himself, police said. The police have registered a case of unnatural death. India Abroad News Service