OPINION | Kerala couple self-immolation: Shocking, horrific, unpardonable
There is widespread outrage over an incident near Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala, in which a middle-aged couple self-immolated in front of police and court-appointed staff while attempting to stop eviction from their land on which they had built a shed for living. The couple was taken to government medical college where they succumbed to critical burns on Monday.
The two orphaned sons of the couple then decided to do the last rites of their parents on the same spot where the self-immolation took place and police stepped in to prevent them from performing final rites saying that the land was disputed.
This horrific incident is indicative of the rot that has set in our system. Normally, we, at India TV, avoid showing videos of self-immolation and suicide, but I decided to show the video (the gruesome portions of the video were glazed) to communicate to our viewers how a couple lost their right to survive in a society where they were facing the onslaught of the system, represented by police, which had come with a court eviction order.
Any person with a humane outlook will feel perturbed on watching the gruesome video of the two children watching their parents pouring kerosene on their bodies and setting fire with a lighter. According to eyewitnesses, an assistant sub inspector lunged at the father to snatch away the lighter, but in the melee, the father clicked the lighter on, resulting in self-immolation. None of the policemen or the neighbours intervened to stop the couple from setting themselves on fire. The two children stood dumbstruck watching their parents screaming.
The elder son Rahul alleged that it was the police who caused the death of his parents. “My father would never commit suicide. He was only asking the police not to evict them from their land. He would often tell us never to accept suicide as an option.”
The family of 47-year-old Rajan and his 40-year-old wife Ambili, was living with their two teenaged sons, Rahul and Renjith, in a small shed in Nett Thottam area in Neyyatinkara, near Thiruvananthapuram. People from scheduled castes mostly live in this area. Their neighbour, Vasantha, a lady, claimed that she owned the piece of land and complained to police. Her advocate claims she bought the land in 2006. She obtained an eviction order from the local munsif court. This year, in June, the first attempt was made to evict Rajan’s family. On December 22, police came along with court-appointed staff to execute the eviction order. Rajan told police that he had obtained a stay on eviction. He promised to show the copy of stay order after a few hours, but the police team was unrelenting.
As the police team approached their shed to dismantle it, Rajan poured petrol on himself and his wife Ambili and threatened to self-immolate. Police says, the fire was accidentally lit when an ASI tried to snatch the lighter from Rajan’s hand.
Local media has questioned why the police was in a hurry to evict the family even as they knew that the family had got a stay order. They are asking why the police did not ask for the copy of the stay order obtained by Rajan. After media outcry, the litigant neighbour Vasantha, who was the main reason for this act of self-immolation, is now in police custody.
After political parties raised this issue, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that his government would “protect” the two orphans and take care of their education. Where was the government when the poor family living in a shed made of asbestos roof and bricks, was crying for justice? The orphans’ mother Ambili had lost her mental senses after years of litigation and police harassment.
At the time of eviction, Rajan was pleading with policemen to give him at least some time so that he could show the copy of the court stay order. The police inspector was adamant and wanted the family to vacate the hut immediately. Rajan stood outside the shed with his wife, poured kerosene and told the police that both of them would self-immolate. Even then the policemen did not yield.
Before he died, Rajan was pleading with police and court-appointed staff “Please allow us to live. If you torment us like this, we will have no other option but to die.” These were his last words, and yet the police and munsif court staff did not listen. Their son was recording all this on video, but when he saw his parents on fire, he left his camera and rushed to save them, but by that time, it was too late. Most of their clothes were already burnt, and a major portion of their bodies had suffered critical burns. Both the parents were lying unconscious.
People poured water to save them but both the bodies were, by that time, lifeless. The two children were screaming. They tried to find signs of life in the bodies of their parents, they screamed that the police had killed them, but most of the people stood watching silently. Rajan had suffered 75 per cent burns while Ambili had suffered 60 per cent burns.
It is really shocking that police did not even wait to see the copy of the stay order obtained by the family and insisted on immediate eviction. It shows the utter disregard that the system has for the poor and underprivileged people. This incident should act as a lesson for police – to deal with similar situations in future in a sensitive manner. Police must show sympathy when they go for eviction. The Kerala government must ensure housing and proper education for the two orphans. Let us pray and hope that in the new year, we may not see such horrific incidents.
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