Death By Selfies Is A New Epidemic In Odisha!

Bhubaneswar: Taking selfies and sharing it on social media has become the new mantra of today’s youth. It’s good to admire yourself and share it with the world. However, risking your life to take a picture of your face is something else entirely.

This obsession with a daredevil image can cost your life. The undying “selfie fever” has resulted in tragic deaths every year across the globe. In fact, India has topped in selfie death charts, followed by Russia and the United States.

The average age of the victims is 21 years, and 75 percent of them are male.

The recent death of a software engineer in Gajapati district shows Odisha is not leaving behind.

The desire to click a selfie at a picnic point cost a 25-year-old software engineer his life on Wednesday.

The youth identified as Rakesh Pattnayak of Kamakhyanagar area in Parlakhemundi drowned in Mahendratanaya river while taking a selfie from a tree at the Brundaban Palace picnic point here on Wednesday.

While he was taking selfie climbing on a tree, his mobile slipped off his hand and fell into the river. In a bid to catch the mobile, he too fell into the river.

In September this year, a 19-year old engineering student, Suvendhu Nayak electrocuted after he came close to a heavy electric wire while trying to take a daring selfie on the top of a stationary goods train in Bhubaneswar.

In March, a youth succumbed to the injuries on the auspicious celebration of Mahashivratri, as he fell from 30 feet high hill in Ghumareswar temple premises in Nabrangpur district while taking a selfie.

With the increasing selfie deaths, the Odisha government has identified at least 20 tourist places in different districts as “selfie danger points”. It has asked the concerned district collectors and SPs to barricade the spots to ensure the safety of tourists.

Dangerous selfie waterfalls: Duduma (157.5 meters) in Koraput district, Sanaghagra (30 meters) in Keonjhar district, Badaghagra (60 meters) in Keonjhar district, Khandadhar (244 meters) in Sundargarh district.

Dangerous water bodies: Chilika Lake (spread in Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts) and river in Bhitarkanika national park (home for saltwater crocodiles) in Kendrapada district.

The state government will put up signage at several places including Chandrabhaga beach (near Konark), Paradeep (in front of Jawaharlal Nehru Guest House), Sanghagara, Gonasika and Satakoshia Gorge in Keonjhar, Sea mouth of Satapada in Puri, Debakunda in Mayurbhanj, Khandagiri, Udayagiri and Dhauli hills at Bhubaneswar.