Hasina Begum, a 60-year-old resident of Nazrulpally in Ward 20 of Dankuni Municipality, allegedly died of a heart attack brought on by extreme anxiety after discovering that her name was missing from the 2002 voter list.
This is the third incident of suicide in the state allegedly because of the panic caused by the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) that is likely to begin across the state from 4 November.
Latest reports suggested that there is reported another SIR-related death in East Midnapore’s Ramnagar area.
According to family members, Hasina Begum had been living in a rented house with her daughter and had been deeply distressed since learning that her name did not appear on the old voter list.
Dankuni Municipality chairperson Hasina Shabnam rushed to the spot soon after the incident and confirmed, “She had been anxious ever since learning that her name was missing from the 2002 list. The stress led to a heart attack that caused her death.”
The chairperson also claimed that another resident in the area has fallen ill due to similar fear and panic over the SIR issue.
Trinamul Congress leaders, including MP Kalyan Banerjee and other senior figures, are expected to visit the area following directions from party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said: “Hasina Begum could not bear the mental pressure caused by the SIR issue and died of a heart attack. This is the third death linked to the SIR panic in the state.”
He sharply criticised the BJP, alleging that the “fear created by their rhetoric — that names will be struck off, people will be identified and sent to Bangladesh — has driven ordinary citizens into anxiety, illness, and even death.”
Authorities are collecting full details of the incident.
This is the third incident of SIR-related suicide case in the state. Earlier 52-year-old Pradip Kar Panihati in North 24-Parganas and Khairul Sheikh, a resident of Jitpur area in Dinhata, Cooch Behar had committed suicide.