A young man from Saptagram in Hooghly, summoned for SIR hearing and fearing his name would be removed from the voter list due to lack of documents, allegedly committed suicide out of panic late on Tuesday night, according to his family members.
Swapan Bagdi (36) was a voter of booth number 78 in Tisbigha, under the Saptagram Gram Panchayat of Saptagram Assembly constituency. A daily wage labourer, he was found hanging in a room in his house. His wife Pratima said, “The BLO had summoned my husband for SIR hearing. But he had no documents other than his voter ID card. Though I tried to convince him to go and see what the BLO says, he argued with me over the issue.”
She added, “He appeared highly distraught and tense, fearing that his voter card would not be enough. He apparently panicked for not possessing the required documents and later in the night, he took this drastic step in my absence.”
On receiving news of the young man’s death, local Trinamool leaders went to Tisbigha. Former MLA and current Zilla Parishad member Manas Majumdar said, “Swapan’s family has been living by the railway tracks for a long time. They don’t have any documents. The BLO asked him to come for the SIR hearing. They didn’t even deliver the notice at his house.”
Although Swapan’s family has been living on government land in this area for a long time, they don’t have any proper documents. Majumdar has held the Election Commission responsible for this unwanted death of the only earning member of the family. He alleged that the Election Commission is putting people in danger by conducting the SIR process in such a hurry.