WARANGAL: The 28-year-old unemployed graduate, Boda Sunil Naik, who had attempted suicide by consuming pesticide a week ago at Warangal over dejection on the lack of notification for government jobs by Telangana, died during the early hours on Friday at the NIMS Hospital in Hyderabad.
The death of a youth over the issue of unemployment triggered adverse reactions against the TRS government from various leaders of opposition parties, as well as protests by students.
Naik was a resident of Gudur mandal in Mahabubabad district. He had shot a video of himself after consuming pesticide on March 26 near the Kakatiya University campus.
In the video, he rued that Telangana was not issuing notifications for government jobs to fill up various vacancies and also spoke about the dearth of employment opportunities in the state. He also said in the video that he had been waiting for more than five years for the job notifications.
Sunil's body reached his native village of Tejavath Ramsingh Thanda in Gudur Mandal on Friday evening. However, the villagers, some students, and a few political leaders who were present there refused to conduct his last rites.
Till late night, the body was still lying in the ambulance that was parked in the village's outskirts.
Mahabubabad Superintendent of Police (SP) N Koti Reddy visited the spot and tried to convince the political party leaders and students to withdraw their protest and conduct his last rites.
Speaking to the media, Sunil's brother, Boda Srinivas, said that the state government's announcement on extension of the retirement age of government employees from 58 years to 61 years had left his brother distraught and he eventually died by suicide.
Srinivas said, "My brother finished graduation in 2016 and was trying hard to get a government job. He had applied for other jobs too. I am working for a private company. We are awaiting the notification for 50,000 government jobs promised by the Telangana government. The state government must immediately issue the job notifications."
According to the police, Naik had completed his graduation and was preparing for competitive exams to get a government job for the past six years. He had rented a room at Hanmakonda and was staying there. He had appeared for the police constable written exam but had failed in the physical test.
(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call AASRA's 24x7 Helpline: +91-9820466726 for assistance.)