KAMAREDDY/ KHAMMAM: Telangana was on Saturday rocked by two separate suicide incidents, which many quickly likened to the contractor Sunil Patil suicide case in Karnataka. While a realtor and his mother from Medak district took the extreme step by immolating themselves in Kamareddy district, a BJP worker died by suicide in Khammam. The mother-son duo, in their suicide note, blamed seven persons, including public representatives and a police officer, who they accused of harassing them even as the BJP activist blamed TRS leaders for pressuring the police who in turn drove him to suicide.
Expectedly, the two incidents gave ammunition to the political parties, particularly to the BJP, to target the ruling TRS for what they said were ‘atrocities’ perpetrated by its leaders and activists with the help of an effusive and ever-subservient police department. The fact that Gangam Santosh, and his 60-year-old mother Padma chose to end their lives by self-immolation heightened the feeling of revulsion.
Before opting for the gruesome way to end their lives, Santosh and Padma posted a video on Facebook in which they blamed the harassment meted out to them by Ramayampet Municipal chairman Palle Jitender Goud and six others. Santosh also attached pictures of all the seven members in his post and a lengthy suicide note. In Khammam, BJP activist Samineni Sai Ganesh Chowdary consumed pesticide, allegedly after the police refused to accept his complaint against the husband of the local corporator for demolishing the base of a flag pole, and instead, registered a case against him.