Chhattisgarh: Man who attempted suicide in front of CM’s house on June 29 succumbs

The SP said initially, the youth was admitted to Raipur’s Dr. BR Ambedkar Memorial hospital, but was later shifted to a private hospital.

A youth (27), who had tried to self-immolate in front of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s official residence in Raipur on June 29, succumbed to his burn injuries at a private hospital on Tuesday.

The state government had ordered a magisterial probe into the case the following day. (Getty Images/iStockphoto (Representative Image))

“The youth, who belonged to Dhamtari district, died on Tuesday night at a private hospital in Raipur. The post-mortem examination was carried out on Wednesday morning and later the body was sent to his native place in Dhamtari district,” said Ajay Yadav, superintendent of police (SP), Raipur.

The SP said initially, the youth was admitted to Raipur’s Dr. BR Ambedkar Memorial hospital, but was later shifted to a private hospital.

Police said that he had sustained over 50% burn injuries.

Raman Singh, three-term Chhattisgarh CM and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice-president, tore into Baghel-led state government’s “misrule and mismanagement”.

“Misrule, mismanagement and the poor policy of the Congress have murdered the youth of the state … Bhupesh Baghel government continued to sprinkle salt on the wounds by calling the youth a mentally-ill patient,” ex-CM Singh tweeted.

On July 29, the day the incident occurred, the state public relations department personnel had spoken to the members of the youth’s family and had claimed that he was mentally unstable for the past two years.

The department had stated on the same day that the youth possessed two acres of land in his native village and also held a job card under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005, scheme.

“He had worked for 11 days in May under the MGNREGA scheme and had submitted an application to his village panchayat for making a YouTube film,” the department had said in a statement.

However, his wife denied that he was mentally unstable.

“We are suffering from an acute financial crisis due to which my husband was very worried. He is not mentally unstable,” she had told local media persons in Dhamtari on June 29.

The state government had ordered a magisterial probe into the case the following day.

The state government had said the key aspects of the probe would be the circumstances that led to his self-immolation bid, whether he was instigated by any person, the reason and the mode of conveyance by which he travelled to Raipur, and if he was indeed mentally unstable, then why no treatment was done by his family members.

RP Singh, Congress leader, and state spokesperson, said any unemployed youth’s death is an unfortunate incident and the state government stands by the deceased’s family in their hour of grief.

He, however, launched a scathing attack on ex-CM Singh and reminded him of precedence.

“If the former CM is so sensitive about the death of this youth, then he shouldn’t forget about two similar incidents that had occurred during his regime. Records suggest that eight self-immolation bids were carried out during his 15-year reign.

He should be apologetic and ashamed about his rule. Besides, his government didn’t give a single rupee for the treatment of those, who had died, under similar circumstances,” Singh alleged.

The BJP is yet to respond to the ruling Congress’s allegations.