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Telangana man decries lack of jobs in video, dies after consuming pesticide
Minutes after consuming pesticide, Sunil recorded a video citing lack of job opportunities as the reason for his extreme step.
A 25-year-old tribal man, who consumed pesticide on the campus of Kakatiya University in Telangana’s Warangal district on March 26, succumbed at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad on Friday morning, the police said.
As per the police, Boda Sunil was rushed to the NIMS three days ago after his initial treatment at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Warangal. Sunil shot a video of himself wherein he mentioned his frustration with the lack of job opportunities in the state as the reason behind his extreme step.
“He breathed his last this (Friday) morning. The body has been moved to Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad for postmortem after which it would be taken to his native place later in the night,” the Punjagutta police said.
Activists of Telangana Youth Congress, led by state unit president Shiva Sena Reddy, staged a dharna in front of the Gandhi Hospital and demanded the resignation of Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. They were immediately taken into custody by the police.
“We were arrested when all we wanted was to pay floral tributes to the deceased. We shall take part in his funeral procession at his native place,” Reddy said.
Minutes after consuming pesticide at a secluded place on the Kakatiya University campus, Sunil recorded a video on his mobile and sent it to his friends. In the video, Sunil said he was resorting to the extreme step not because he was inefficient and was dreaming to be a civil servant.
“But I thought my death is the only way to open the eyes of the government. It has been seven years since the Telangana state was formed but the government has not filled up any job vacancies. Students who had struggled for a separate statehood are frustrated due to lack of jobs,” he said and asked the youth to fight against KCR (the chief minister).
The police, who were alerted by his friends, quickly traced Sunil and took him to the MGM Hospital in Warangal. On Tuesday, he was brought to the NIMS, where he died on Friday.
In the video, Sunil also said he was preparing for the competitive examinations and even cleared the written test for the sub-inspector’s examination in 2016 but was denied a job on the pretext that he didn’t meet the criteria as he wasn’t tall enough.
“There have been no job recruitments in Telangana since then. If I survive, I will continue my struggle for the jobs; otherwise, Telangana’s youth should fight against the government,” he said.
Bharatiya Janata Party state president Bandi Sanjay lashed out at the TRS government for ignoring the plight of the unemployed. “The youth are frustrated due to the lack of employment opportunities. Since Sunil named the chief minister in his selfie video before suicide, the police should arrest KCR,” he demanded.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said the unfortunate incident reflects the height of negligence of the TRS government towards the unemployed youth. “The Congress will be on the forefront of the struggles of the youth to carry on the fight for job recruitments,” he said.
TRS leaders could not be reached for comment.
