Septuagenarian immolates self at Usilampatti RDO office

Police claim to have settled dispute raised by the deceased

A 70-year-old man, R. Rajarathinam, died after he committed self-immolation on the office premises of Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) at Usilampatti on Wednesday.

With Usilampatti Town police claiming to have settled a dispute raised by Rajarathinam, acting on a petition forwarded by the RDO on Monday, the police are perplexed as to why the elderly man committed suicide within two days.

The man, who was seen at the RDO office in the morning, suddenly doused himself with kerosene and set himself afire. People in the vicinity rushed him to Usilampatti Government Hospital, where he was declared brought dead, the police said.

The RDO, M. Balasubramanian, said that he had received a petition from Rajarathinam on Monday morning.

He had sent the complainant through a special messenger to Usilampatti Town police station.

“Today, the man was on his way to the police station. He could have come to the RDO office premises in search of shade. It is not known why he committed suicide,” Mr. Balasubramanian, said.

Usilampatti Deputy Superintendent of Police Saravanan said that the deceased had complained of money dispute with his neighbour R. Veeranan.

Rajarathinam, a widower, had married Subbulaksmi (55). The couple were making both ends meet by making ‘murukku,’ a savoury. The man used to sell murukku on his bicycle. They lived in a rented house belonging to Veeranan’s relative.

In the meantime, it is said that Veeranan had asked Rajarathinam to give his murukku shed to him. In return, he promised to give him Rs. 25,000 and also murukku worth Rs. 1,500 every day for him to sell.

Inspector of Police D. Subramani said that the issue was amicably settled as both of them arrived at a mutually agreeable solution.

Veeranan had given him the daily quota of murukku on Tuesday and the packet for Wednesday was also kept ready for Rajarathinam to take delivery.

A petition the deceased was carrying was also burnt when he set himself on fire, the police said.

Usilampatti police have registered a case of suspicious death and are investigating.