Man commits suicide in Assam, NRC blamed

A septuagenarian in Assam committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in a remote village on the India-Bangladesh border, sparking rumours that he took the extreme step after failing to find the names of his family members in NRC.

The incident came to light when on Tuesday people spotted the body of Deben Barman (71) hanging from a tree branch in the front yard of his house in Dhubri district, which borders Bangladesh.

While the names of Deben Barman, his wife Shome Barman and daughter-in-law Konika Barman appeared in the NRC, the name of his son Mahendra Barman (48) and two grandchildren did not appear in the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) published on July 30.

The names of 40,07,707 people were kept out of the register by the authorities over discrepancies.

Some villagers said that Barman was depressed after failing to find the names of three members of his family in the NRC.

"It is difficult to ascertain the cause of his death," said Dhubri Superintendent of Police Longnit Teron on Tuesday.

"We have been trying to speak to his wife but could not as she is in shock. His son, who works in Meghalaya, is yet to arrive," said Teron.

--IANS

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