Kolkata, March 3 – A man selling momos died by suicide on Tuesday, allegedly after his name was removed from the electoral rolls of West Bengal following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
The deceased, identified as Gouranga De, a resident of ward number 11 in Jalpaiguri town, is survived by his wife and son.
The family claims that he had been voting for almost 40 years. However, his name was not on the 2002 voter list. He was called for a hearing during the SIR process.
He also submitted the relevant information and documents. After the final voter list was published on February 27, it was found that Gouranga's name had been omitted from the list. The word "Deleted" was written next to his name.
According to family and local sources, he was deeply worried since his name was removed from the voter list.
The landlord of Gouranga's rented house said, "He was very worried after his name was removed. He kept asking what would happen to him. The body was recovered this morning. Now what will happen to this family?"
The deceased's wife told local reporters, "He had no parents or grandparents, so he could not provide any further information. The other documents were presented during the SIR hearing. But his name was removed from the list. Then this incident happened today."
Jalpaiguri Municipality Chairman Saikat Chatterjee rushed to the scene after hearing the news. He said that Gouranga had approached him after his name was omitted. He had helped him fill out form number 6 online.
Saikat said, "This is a very sad incident. SIR is taking people's lives. It is taking away democratic rights. The Election Commission and the central government must take responsibility for this."
The police have recovered the body and sent it for autopsy.
An investigation into the incident has been started.