Momo seller dies by suicide after alleged deletion of name from voters’ list in Bengal

Kolkata: A momo seller died by suicide on Tuesday, allegedly after his name was deleted from the electoral rolls of West Bengal post Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.  

The deceased has been identified as Gouranga De, a resident of ward number 11 of Jalpaiguri town. He used to live in a rented house with his family and is survived by a wife and son.

The family claimed that he has been voting for almost 40 years. However, his name was not in the 2002 voter list. He was called for a hearing during the SIR process.

He also submitted the information and documents that he had. After the final voters' list was published on February 27, it was found Gouranga's name had been omitted from the list. 'Deleted' was written next to his name.

According to family and local sources, he was worried ever since his name was removed from the voters' list.

The landlord of Gouranga's rented house said, "He was worried ever since his name was removed. He kept asking what would happen to him. The body was recovered this morning. Now what will happen to this family?"

The deceased's wife told local reporters, "He had no parents or grandparents, therefore, he could not provide any further information. The other papers that were there were presented at the SIR hearing. But the name was removed from the list. Then today this incident happened."

Jalpaiguri Municipality Chairman Saikat Chatterjee rushed to the spot after receiving the news. He said that Gouranga had approached him after his name was omitted. He had helped him fill form number 6 online.

Saikat said, "It is a very sad incident. SIR is taking people's lives. It is taking away democratic rights. The Election Commission and the central government must take responsibility for this."

The police have recovered the body and sent it for autopsy.

An investigation into the incident has been started.