Priest at Durga Pandal Dies by Suicide, Village Mourns

In the Arjuni police station area of Dhamtari district, a young man named Vinod Kumar, who was serving as the priest at the Durga Pandal during Navratri, died by suicide. On Friday afternoon, he left the pandal and went to a nearby house. When he didn't return, people went to look for him and found Vinod hanging from a noose made of a gamcha (a type of cloth). The incident has plunged the entire village into mourning, transforming the joy of the Durga festival into sorrow. Police have sent the body for a post-mortem examination at the Dhamtari District Hospital and are investigating the cause of the suicide. The reason is not yet clear, leaving the whole village in a state of shock.