A Booth Level Officer (BLO) engaged in West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list was found hanging from a tree near her Malbazar home early Wednesday morning, prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to blame the Election Commission for overburdening field workers.
The deceased, 48-year-old Shantimuni Oraon, an ICDS worker and BLO of Rangmati Gram Panchayat (Booth 20/101), reportedly ended her life under severe stress linked to her SIR duties, according to her family.
Local sources noted that Shantimuni worked in a predominantly Hindi-speaking area, while the SIR forms were available only in Bengali. As a Hindi speaker, she faced major difficulties reviewing and correcting errors in the forms. Her husband, Sukhu Oraon, said, “We are Hindi speakers. The forms are in Bengali. People filled them wrongly, and my wife struggled to correct them. She asked the BDO to let her resign, but the joint BDO said her name cannot be removed.”
Her son, D’Souza, added that she was handling intense Anganwadi duties alongside heavy BLO responsibilities. “She was handling everything alone. The SIR forms were in Bengali, which we barely know. She was extremely stressed,” he said.
Also: SIR panic drives undocumented migrants to Bangla border
Shantimuni’s body was discovered around 5 a.m. outside her residence. Police recovered the body and sent it to Malbazar Super Specialty Hospital for post-mortem. Superintendent of Police Umesh Khandabahale said, “A case of unnatural death has been registered. The autopsy is underway, and the body will be handed over to the family soon. Investigation has begun.”
Reacting on X, Mamata Banerjee stated, “Deeply shocked and saddened. Today again, we lost a Booth Level Officer — Smt Shanti Muni Oraon, a tribal anganwadi worker who took her own life under the unbearable pressure of the ongoing SIR work.” She added that 28 people have died since the SIR began, linking the fatalities to stress and overwork.
Malbazar MLA and Tribal Development Minister Buluchik Baraik said, “This family had no internal issues. The pressure of SIR work pushed her to this extreme step. People are terrified.”
Follow us
