A 50-year-old man attempted self-immolation near the new building of the Supreme Court in the national capital on Friday, 21 January, the Delhi Police said.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident took place around 2 pm, reported IANS. The grievously injured man was immediately rushed to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) by police personnel.
A senior police officer of the New Delhi district told The Quint that the man, who works as a security guard in an exhaust fan factory in Noida, wasn't paid his salary for the last three months by the management of the factory. He is out of danger, added the officer.
Doctors attending on him told IANS that the condition of the injured man is stated to be stable. "He has received only minor burn injuries. Only his hair and clothes had caught fire," one of the doctors said.
He further said that the man is currently under observation.
Hospital sources said that the man was identified as Rajbhar Gupta, a resident of Noida. Meanwhile, a crime team of Delhi Police had reached outside the Supreme Court and was collecting evidence from the spot.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Gupta's daughter Anjali said that her father was the household's sole breadwinner and had been asking the factory's management for his salary. Gupta was fired after he took a leave of 15 January, she added.
"He pleaded with them to take him back, but they misbehaved with him. On Friday morning, he told us he was looking for a new job and left home. But in the afternoon, we received a call and got to know about the incident," the report quoted Anjali as saying.
She added that her mother was kept in the dark about the incident. Anjali said that she had spoken to her father who was now stable, and he told her that he would come back in two days, the report further said.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)