HYDERABAD: Gopalpuram police on Sunday identified the man who set himself ablaze in Secunderabad on Saturday as Dean Benedict, a real estate businessman, who hails from Tarnaka area. Police said that the victim took the extreme step due to financial losses.
The identity could be ascertained after the family members approached the police after the victim’s friends posted the news of the suicide on social networking sites.
Assistant commissioner of police, Gopalpuram division, K Shiva Kumar said that Benedict’s body was identified by his sister, who later approached the police regarding the same. “The same day when the man committed suicide, his mother-in-law died from a chronic disease,” the ACP said.
It was also learnt that the police received information from the WhatsApp group members of Christian community that the person who committed suicide in front of a bishop’s home was Benedict and unsuccessfully contested in Christian Association’s elections.
Benedict was in real estate business for some time and invested huge amounts of money on purchase of lands and construction works. It is said that he faced financial crisis due to lack of sales in real estate business.