A 40-year-old woman attempted suicide by consuming poison at the Collectorate and was admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital on Monday.
Annakili (40) of Singanallur went to the Collectorate to submit a petition to the Collector during the weekly grievances meeting. When she was standing in the queue, she fainted. Annakili was taken to the CMCH.
Police said that prior to submitting the petition, she had consumed poison. Inquiry revealed that she was married to Johnny. But for the past one month Johnny did not come home. Hence, she came with a petition seeking Collector's intervention to locate her husband.
This was the second incident of petitioners attempting to commit suicide at the grievances redress meeting held every Monday.
On July 18, a couple Nandakumar (59) and his wife Saraswathi (53) of Ram Nagar attempted self-immolation. Though they were prevented from setting themselves ablaze, Saraswathi drank kerosene and fainted. She was taken to the CMCH. Nandakumar told the Collector that his neighbour had cheated him to the tune of Rs.7 lakh and pleaded with him to initiate steps and get their money back.
Nandakumar and Saraswathi came to the Collectorate on Monday also to submit another petition on this issue. But, they were arrested by the police and were booked on charges of attempting to commit suicide (on July 18).
Speaking to The Hindu , District Collector M. Karunakaran said that people could represent their grievances to the authorities concerned and necessary actions were being taken. He warned of severe action against those resorting to suicide attempts as a method of representing grievances.
