Tragic Lightning Strikes Claim Four Lives in Jharkhand, Including Two Women Farmers

Chatra/Koderma/Latehar: Four persons were killed in lightning strikes across the state. Of the four, two are women farmers from Chatra and Hazaribag, while the remaining two were killed in Koderma and Latehar.

While the three victims from Chatra, Hazaribag and Koderma were killed on Sunday, the Latehar man was killed on Saturday evening, officials said.The deceased from Chatra district is identified as a 39-year-old Chinta Devi, a resident of Dadi Bokamma village under the Simaria police station. She was struck by a bolt while sowing tomato crops. Locals took her to a referral hospital, but the doctors there declared her dead on arrival.

Later, the body was sent for post-mortem examination to the Chatra sadar hospital.In the Hazaribag incident, another woman farmer, identified as Devanti Devi (48), lost her life at Nawadih village within the Ichak police station limits. She was struck by lightning around 4 pm while she was plucking tomatoes from her field. Other locals who were also plucking tomatoes nearby brought her body back home. The personnel of the Ichak police station sent the body to a hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Two women farmers also narrowly escaped death during another lightning strike in Koderma, but a 20-year-old, identified as Sachin Kumar, son of Rajendra Thakur of Khari village, lost his life in a separate incident at about 3 pm. In the first incident, the two women were returning home after grazing goats when heavy rain made them take shelter under a Mahua tree at Jaungi village under the Chandwara police station. While the three goats died, the two women escaped unharmed.According to locals, the deceased from Khari village, Sachin, was struck by lightning near his house during heavy rain, leaving him critically injured. The locals rushed him to sadar hospital where doctors declared him dead. In Latehar, police had to persuade relatives of a 45-year-old cattle breeder, identified as Ramnath Yadav, from Rampur village under Mahuadand block, to hand over the body for the post-mortem examination.

The relatives have kept the body in a mound of cow dung out of superstition, believing that he would come back to life, an officer said on Sunday. Mahuadand police station officer-in-charge Manoj Kumar said Yadav had gone to graze cattle with his wife, Shobha Devi, on Saturday evening when lightning struck him and he collapsed at the spot.“Relatives rushed Yadav to the community health centre in Mahuadand for treatment, where the doctors declared him dead.

Shobha Devi was also admitted, but her condition is stable. However, superstitious relatives brought back the body without informing the police from the CHC and kept it in the mound of cow dung with a belief that the effect of lightning would subside in cow dung and Yadav would be alive again,” Kumar said.Police officers also claimed that the relatives were also told that a post-mortem was necessary to claim compensation under the disaster management rules of the state govt for death due to lightning.Meanwhile, the Met office in its bulletin on Sunday afternoon said the monsoon activity was weak over the state and light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms was observed at isolated places over the state during the past 24 hours. The highest rainfall of 49.2 mm was reported from Manoharpur in West Singhbhum district. The Met office also forecast no large change in the maximum and minimum temperatures during the next five days.

It predicted light to moderate rain and thunder showers at a few places in the state on Monday and Tuesday.It predicted light to moderate rain or thundershower at many places in the state on Wednesday and Thursday. Issuing a warning, the Met office said thunderstorms and lightning accompanied by gusty wind with a speed of up to 40 kmph are likely to occur at isolated places in the state from Sept 7 to Sept 11.