Families blame SIR stress for two deaths, panic stricken citizens take drastic steps
Telegraph | 18 November 2025
Two persons died in the city, and the families of the deceased alleged that the deaths were related to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Baidyanath Hazra, 46, a driver by profession who had been reported missing from his RN Guha Road home in Dum Dum since Friday, was found hanging from a tree early on Monday morning.
In another incident, 67-year-old Jamuna Mondal reportedly set herself ablaze at her Purba Putiari home on Monday.
Hazra’s wife said he was “anxious” because of the SIR. “My husband’s name was not in the 2002 list. He was extremely anxious about that. We have two children. He was worried for them,” she said on Monday. She added that the family had been living in Dum Dum for several years.
Jamuna Mondal’s son, Mrityunjoy Mondal, said his mother had been worried because of a delay in receiving the SIR forms.
“We were the last to get the forms. We received the forms on Saturday. My mother was very worried due to the delay. She was also undergoing neurological treatment,” Mondal said on Monday.
Jamuna was taken to MR Bangur Hospital with critical burn injuries, where she was declared dead on Monday evening.