Malda, Aug. 13: An illegal immigrant from Bangladesh hanged himself in a mango orchard here after his cross-border trip to persuade his lover’s parents to allow them to marry came to nought.

Joydeb Haldar, 32, was found hanging from a tree in an orchard near Gopalpur village in Englishbazar early this morning. Police said Joydeb hailed from Rajshahi district in Bangladesh and had infiltrated into India on August 10. “He was staying with a relative here,” said an investigating officer.

Residents of Gopalpur, from where the border is only 2km away, have told the police that Joydeb had become fond of a young woman in their village. “He would often cross the international border illegally to meet her,” one of them said.

However, recently, Joydeb had been ticked off by the woman’s parents, the villagers said. “They reportedly told Joydeb that they would not let their daughter get married to a Bangladeshi,” said the investigating officer.

After that, Joydeb had asked his mother, Hema, to talk to the woman’s parents and convince them, said the villagers.

The police said Joydeb’s mother, too, had entered India without valid travel documents. However, Joydeb and her mother’s last ditch efforts proved futile. “We believe that when he realised he had no hope, he hanged himself,” said the officer.

The villagers claimed that after word went around at daybreak that Joydeb had hanged himself, his mother went to the spot and took out the cash and mobile phone from his pockets and fled.

Panchami Haldar, Joydeb’s aunt who lives in Gopalpur, said she was shocked by the suicide. “Joydeb had spent his childhood in Gopalpur and even possessed a ration card. He wanted to marry and settle down here,” Panchami said.

The incident has once again brought into focus how easily Bangladeshis can enter India illegally through the porous border in Malda. However, police chief Stayajit Bandyopadhyay today refused comment on the issue.