KOLKATA —Three persons have died in three separate districts of North 24 Parganas, Nadia and Birbhum over fear of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing process. Police sources said on Monday that while two died by suicide, one died of a heart attack. Their families alleged that fear over the SIR process was the cause of their deaths.
At Hingalganj in North 24 Parganas district, a father died of a heart attack after his son and daughter received SIR hearing notices for ‘logical discrepancies’ in their voter registration information.
It was learnt that son Abdur Rahman and daughter Anjura Bibi were summoned for an SIR hearing. The family claimed that their father, Chhoyed Sheikh, died in fear and anxiety. The incident took place at booth number 103 in Mamudpur in Hingalganj. According to the family, Chhoyed’s anxiety increased when he learnt that his son would not be able to attend the SIR hearing as he works in another state.
The 62-year-old man fell ill due to fear and suffered a heart attack on Monday morning. He was admitted to Hingalganj Rural Hospital, where he died.
The deceased’s daughter Anjura told local reporters, “My brother and I received hearing notices. My brother works as a migrant worker in another state. Our hearing was scheduled for Monday. My father was very worried for several days because my brother couldn’t come. We tried to reassure him. My father died due to the fear of the SIR.”
Meanwhile, in the Karimpur area of Nadia district, a person named Fizur Khan was suffering from fear after a notice arrived in his wife’s name due to a discrepancy in the name. The family claimed that due to this fear, Fizur Khan, from the Hogalberia police station area of Nadia, died by suicide on Sunday night. The 54-year-old man was quickly rescued and taken to Karimpur Rural Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
According to local and family sources, Fizur’s wife, Parvina Bibi, received an SIR hearing notice and was asked to appear because of discrepancies in the spelling of her name or other information in the documents. The family claimed that Fizur thought his wife would be sent to Bangladesh. He could not be saved even after being taken to hospital.
Local BDO Debabrata Chakraborty said, “Resolving logical discrepancies is a normal process. It has no connection with being deported from the country.”
Meanwhile, in Ward 14 of Rampurhat Municipality in Birbhum district, a person named Johnny Sheikh died by suicide. His family alleged that he took the extreme step due to fear related to SIR.
According to family sources, Johnny sold water bottles on trains. His wife left him several years ago. He occasionally drank alcohol. They lived on railway land. His father has passed away and his mother lives in Mumbai for work. Johnny used to eat at his cousin’s house in Rampurhat.
On Sunday afternoon, after eating lunch, he went into his room and locked the door. When he didn’t open the door even at night, locals became suspicious. Residents broke open the locked door and found him dead, the sources said.
The family claimed that the Election Commission had issued hearing notices to 171 people in that ward. He was afraid that he might also receive a hearing notice. They alleged that was why he took the extreme step. On receiving the information, the Rampurhat police recovered the body and sent it to Rampurhat Government Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examination. — IANS
