WARANGAL/HYDERABAD: The issue of unemployment, especially among educated youth, came back to haunt TRS government after a 28-year-old jobless tribal man died by suicide on Friday. The death led to protests by student bodies and sharp reactions from opposition parties.
Boda Sunil Naik drank a poisonous substance inside the Kakatiya University campus at Warangal on March 26 and recorded a selfie video stating that he was killing himself because the state government had not issued job notifications. He had shared the video with his friends on social media. After seeing the viral video, police had rushed to the campus and shifted him to a hospital.
“Many students in Telangana are struggling because of missing employment opportunities,” Sunil had said in his video. “In 2016, I cleared SI and constable exams, but I was not shortlisted for not meeting the height requirement. I have been preparing for competitive exams, but in seven years, no job notifications were issued by the government. So, I have consumed poison. If I survive I will fight with the unemployed youth of Telangana. Otherwise, all of you have to fight for employment.”
A native of Tejawat Ramsingh Thanda of Gundenga village in Mahabubabad district, Sunil had been staying at Hanamkonda to prepare for competitive exams. He died while being treated at NIMS hospital.
When Sunil’s body reached his hamlet on Friday evening, Mahabubabad police made elaborate arrangements to prevent violence or protests. However, hundreds of people from neighbouring hamlets gathered at Tejawat Ramsingh Thanda and refused to let the body out of the ambulance, demanding that the government issue job notifications. Till late evening, the protesters had not allowed the last rites to be completed.
As news of Sunil’s death spread, protests erupted at Warangal and Hyderabad. Unemployment had become a key campaign issue during the recently concluded legislative council elections and the death seemed to fan the existing resentment.
Representatives of various student unions staged a protest near state minister E Dayakar Rao’s house in Hanamkonda alleging that the state government was responsible for the suicide and that it should take care of Sunil’s family. Police took the protesters into preventive custody.
Sunil’s parents, Ramdhan and Malluka, fell unconscious when they were informed about the death. Upset relatives and well-wishers of the family then organised a ‘rasta roko’ at Gundega village.
Student union representatives also protested at the Gandhi Hospital mortuary where Sunil’s body was kept before it was shifted to his hamlet. “We have taken 25 protesters into preventive custody and released them later on personal bond,” Gopalapuram ACP P Venkata Ramana said.