A 46-year-old government teacher, who was working as a Booth Level Officer (BLO) in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district, has allegedly died by suicide amid the ongoing row over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter list. The victim has been identified as Sarvesh Singh, who was working as an assistant teacher at a government school in the Bhagatpur Tanda village, Moradabad.
A video has also gone viral on social media, in which Singh said he was under tremendous pressure due to SIR-related work and had failed to perform his duties. In the video, he also apologised to his family members. However, India TV Digital cannot independently verify the veracity of the video.
Singh is survived by his wife Babli and four daughters.
According to the police, Singh's body was found at residence in Bareilly's Baheri village on Sunday. The police said Babli found Singh's body hanging at 4 am. A suicide note was also recovered in which Singh confessed to 'feeling suffocated' and said there was not enough time for the job he had been given.
"BLO Sarvesh Singh has committed suicide and has left behind a suicide note stating that the he is unable to cope with the burden of BLO duty. His body has been sent for post-mortem," Circle Officer (Thakurdwara) Ashish Pratap Singh was quoted as saying by agency PTI.
Row over SIR and BLOs deaths
The opposition has constantly criticised the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the SIR. The opposition has also demanded a debate over the exercise in the Parliament during the ongoing Winter Session.
The entire opposition, particularly West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), has also raised the issue of BLOs' suicide. However, the apex poll body has urged the TMC not to spread rumours about the SIR and avoid threatening the BLOs.
