Man dies of ‘hunger’ in Bareilly village

A 47-year-old man was found dead outside his dilapidated house in Aonla block of Bareilly district in the wee hours of Thursday. His relatives alleged that he died of hunger while the district administration said he passed away due to cold weather.

A 47-year-old man allegedly died of hunger in Aonla block of Bareilly district in the wee hours of Thursday. The district administration, however, feels that the prevailing cold weather caused his death.

“Nemchandra and his mother were living in a dilapidated house. He applied for state sponsored housing scheme for poor but the application was denied.” (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Bareilly recorded a minimum temperature of 6 degrees Celsius, which was one degree below normal.

“Nemchandra Srivastava lived in his ancestral home in Kundariya village with his elderly mother. It appears that he died due to the prevailing cold weather conditions,” said Mamta Malviya, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Aonla, who visited the village with local officials on Thursday.

“Mother of the deceased was an Antyodaya card holder (public distribution system) and the family used to draw ration from government ration stores,” she added.

However, Naresh Srivastava, cousin of the Nemchandra, said: “There was no food in the house. He was forced to sleep empty stomach, which led to his death,” Naresh lives in Bareilly city and had gone the village after hearing about Nemchandra’s death.

“We have sent the body for a post-mortem and are waiting for the report to ascertain the cause of death,” said the SDM. “I will request for compensation from the chief minister’s relief fund once the cause of death is ascertained,” she added.

“Nemchandra and his mother were living in a dilapidated house. He applied for state sponsored housing scheme for poor but his application was rejected,” said Archana Devi, Kundariya village head.

Nemchandra was a part-time barber and unmarried, informed villagers.