Telangana: Ten families vacate village after death of four from family in a month in Asifabad

Another family defied the rumours of unknown yet mysterious disease and continued to stay back at Samuthulagundam hamlet located near a picturesque waterfall

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: Ten tribal families were forced to leave their village, while another family defied the rumours and continued to stay back following the recent death of four persons from a family reportedly due to unknown yet mysterious disease at Samuthulagundam hamlet located near a picturesque waterfall.

A dozen families have been residing in the remote Samuthulagundam village, formed on a hillock and in dense forests and situated around 35 kilometers away from district centre for quite a long time. Athram Raju (75), his wife Sonu Bai (65), their sons Bheemu (45) and Maruthi (40) died of certain illness in a gap of a month recently, panicking locals. The consecutive deaths caused anxiety among the villagers.

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The residents strongly believed that the four lost their lives due to some trouble caused to the village. While five families vacated the village and settled in a primary school at Bheemagondi village in Linapur mandal, the other five families migrated to nearby villages. However, a family has been living in the village despite a challenges such as lack of electricity, road and drinking water facilities.

Meanwhile, ASP Sriramoju Chittaranjan visited the village upon learning about the plight of the family on Tuesday. He allayed apprehensions of the villagers by providing counselling. He gave rations to the family and advised tribals not to believe in superstitions. He promised to address their major challenges with the help of officials as concerned.

The members of the lone family underwent medical investigations and officials said that the tribals were not diagnosed with a disease. Officials said that Raju died after his liver was damaged due to consumption of liquor, while Sonu Bai had tuberculosis. While a son died of cardiac arrest, anemia claimed the life of another son.

However, the incident created a flutter among the tribal villages, prompting officials to inspect the hamlet and dispel doubts of the residents.