Aravalis: Man ends life after demolition order

FARIDABAD: A 70-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree near his house in Khori village, where about 10,000 homes built on Aravali land are set to be razed in line with a Supreme court order.
The man's family said he was in distress for the past few days and had been looking at news reports about the demolition order. Ganeshi Lal was found hanging from a tree around 5 am on Wednesday. Later, his son Shyam Lal, filed a police complaint and Surajkund police filed a case against the property dealer who had sold land to the family 15 years ago. Earlier, Lal used to stay in a hutment. He renovated his house recently and hardly 15 days after the work got over, the SC issued the order.
Aravali suicide: Man used up all his savings to build house
The family, originally from Meerut, has been here for 15-20 years. Ganeshi Lal built a permanent house recently and he was very upset when the news of the demolition order came in. He used all his savings and also borrowed money from friends and family to construct the house. On Tuesday evening, while holding a newspaper in his hand, he was looking for someone who could read out the latest report on the court order to him,” said Dinesh Kumar, a neighbour.
Lal stayed with his two sons and their families in Khori and ran a small shop outside their home. While Shyam works as a guard, his other son knits cots.
According to the police complaint, Lal had spent Rs 3 lakh on the house and committed suicide late on Tuesday night.
When TOI visited the village on Wednesday, the family’s house was locked. After Lal’s body was found, many villagers gathered outside the family’s house and started protesting against the demolition drive. About 100 people from Khori have been booked for hurling stones, police said. After the court order on June 7, Section 144 has been imposed in the area and a police force deployed.
The authorities were supposed to start the demolition drive on Tuesday. But it has been put on hold now.