VIRUDHUNAGAR: A 48-year-old man from Vendurayapuram set himself on fire in front of the Malli police station here on Sunday. He suffered 75 per cent burns. Sources said that K Jothi Murugan took the extreme step as he was unsatisfied with an investigation into a complaint wherein he claimed that he was not given his share of ‘ancestral’ property.
According to police, Jothi Murugan, in his complaint lodge with the police on February 22, claimed that his father had transferred ownership of all the properties to his daughter Lakshmi. However, an investigation revealed that the man’s father did so because only Lakshmi, one of his five children, was looking after him in his old age. It was also learnt that the properties in question were not ancestral but belonged to Jothi Murugan’s father.
Sources said that when police tried to arrange peace talks between the two parties on Saturday, Jothi Murugan said that he would move court to get his share. On Sunday morning, an inebriated Jothi Murugan doused himself with petrol and immolated himself in front of the police station. He was rescued by public and was taken to government Sivakasi hospital.