Lucknow/Lakhimpur Khiri

“I am committing suicide because of poverty and unemployment. We get wheat and rice from the government, but the grocery shop owner is now refusing to give me tea, sugar, milk, pulses, vegetables and spices unless I pay up. The lockdown keeps on extending. I am not getting any job.”

This suicide note was found in the pocket of a body that was found on May 29 on the railway tracks in Lakhimpur Khiri district of Uttar Pradesh. The Railway Police has sent the body for post mortem to Shahjahanpur. The deceased has been identified as Bhanu Prakash Gupta, a resident of Nai Basti in Megalgunj.

He used to work as a cook in a hotel in Shahjahanpur. But the hotel shut due to the lockdown and Bhanu lost his job.

Gaon Connection got in touch with Bhanu’s cousin Saurabh Gupta. He said: “My house is just about half a kilometre from his house. He was not keeping well. He had difficulty in breathing. He was under a lot of stress as he had lost his job. He came to me a few times. I did whatever I could. I came to know that he has committed suicide. He didn’t have a job, but he had to feed his family every day. He was also very unwell.”

Shailendra Kumar Singh, the Lakhimpur district collector, has said that the family had Antyodaya cards and they had bought 40 kg ration. He added that the administration will help the family in every possible way.

His body was found on the railway track between Shahjahanpur and Sitapur on May 29 at around 4 PM. As per the family, the Sharamik Express train coming from Sitapur must have killed him.

He is survived by three sons and two daughters. The eldest daughter is married. They were looking for a groom for the other daughter. According to his cousin Saurabh, his mother is a widow and gets a pension. The family must have been managing on that and by borrowing from others.

He has written in his suicide note that he was getting ration from the government but he didn’t have money to buy other essential stuff.

He mentioned in his suicide note: “I am unwell. My mother is unwell too. Lockdown keeps on extending and I am not getting any job. I need money to buy essentials and medicines. The government is not helping … ”

The rest of the suicide not could not be found.

Mohit Shukla from Sitapur and Shishir from Lakhimpur Khiri contributed to this story