Chennai: Out of money, barber hangs to death

CHENNAI: A 38-year-old barber, who had grown dejected over his loss of income due to the lockdown and had run out of money, hanged himself to death at his saloon in Taramani on Tuesday.
S Bharani, a school dropout, was trained in the trade by his father and grandfather and had been working as a barber at the rented premises in Taramani for the past 15 years. On customer demand, he even installed an AC at the shop recently using his savings.
Ever since the lockdown was announced, Bharani would set out to his shop every day and sit alone outside it, hoping to reopen it some time soon, his family said. He would return home only for meals. But, news of a saloon in Koyambedu being shut after the owner tested positive crushed his hopes of opening his shop soon.
After the lockdown was extended on May 3, the father of two children – Kaushik, 11 and Kamesh, 7 — grew more restless and spent many a sleepless night worried about his children’s future, his wife Vijayalakshmi said. He was glued to the television, hoping to hear the good news of saloons being allowed to function again.
It was a herculean task for Bharani to run his family of five for the past 40 days. He managed to pull through using his savings and borrowing money from friends and neighbours. But, borrowing money to make ends meet was not easy for him, Vijayalakshmi said. “He would think twice before asking someone for money.”
On Monday, his savings and all the money he had borrowed dried up. “He had nothing on his mind, other than the welfare of his children. He sounded sad and subdued,” said Vijayalakshmi. “His mother and I tried to convince him saying we would pitch in to support the family financially by taking up jobs as domestic helps.”
“He never trained his sons in the trade as he always felt that they deserved a good education unlike him,” she said, holding back her tears.
On Tuesday, he left home telling his family that he felt like opening his saloon just once to have a look at it. Since he did not return for lunch or dinner, his aged mother Lakshmi went looking for Bharani and found him dead in the shop. Before he took the extreme step, Bharani had cleaned up his shop, leaving everything spic and span.
His body was sent for autopsy and later handed over to his family. Tamil Nadu Hair Dressers Association president V Palani said the sector has been badly hit by the lockdown. “Many others like Bharani are suffering in silence with no aid. The government should consider reopening such shops with necessary safety precautions,” he said.