A 43-year-old homemaker from Malda district died after allegedly consuming pesticide upon discovering that her name had been placed under the “under adjudication” category in the preliminary “final” electoral roll published by the Election Commission, triggering protests and intensifying the political row over the voter list revision in West Bengal.
The deceased, Hazera Bibi, was a resident of Shitalpur village in Harishchandrapur II block of Malda district.
According to her family, she consumed poison on Sunday after learning that her voter status had not been cleared despite submitting the required documents during the verification process. She was admitted to Malda Medical College and Hospital, where she died on Monday evening.
“After discovering that her name was still under adjudication, she broke down and consumed poison,” a relative alleged, The Telegraph reported.
Her death comes amid reports that as many as three persons whose names were placed under the shadow of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) adjudication died by suicide within 48 hours in the state. Another person died following health complications, with his family blaming SIR-related anxiety for the death.
Among them was Rafique Ali Gazi, a 44-year-old van driver from Magrahat, who allegedly hanged himself on Tuesday night after discovering that his name had been marked as “under adjudication” in the final voter list published last Saturday.
Rafique’s wife, Amina Bibi, lodged a written complaint at the Usti police station against the Election Commission. Police have initiated an investigation into the incident. Local Trinamool Congress workers staged a protest with the body and blocked the Usti–Shirakol Road for some time on Wednesday.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.