(If you feel suicidal or know someone in distress, please reach out to them with kindness and call these numbers of local emergency services, helplines, and mental health NGOs.)
In a suspected suicide, a man was found dead on the railway tracks near Pavoorchatram in Tamil Nadu’s Tenkasi district on Tuesday, 19 April.
The police later found two videos on the 30-year-old man’s phone, in which he named two persons as being responsible for his death, one of whom is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
According to the Railway Police, the deceased was identified as Subramaniam, who was a software engineer by profession. Subramaniam had alleged that the two people he named in the videos were harassing him over various issues, both professionally and privately, for two-and-a-half years.
In one of the videos found on his phone, Subramaniam, who seems to be talking from his car, is heard saying that he may not be alive when the video comes out.
Alleges Harassment for Over 2 Years in Video
In the video, which is addressed to his wife, Subramaniam alleges that two people – Ramalingam and Saravanarajramachandran – were solely responsible for his death.
It is learned that Subramaniam’s company was going through a rough patch. “Ramalingam is a BJP [member]; he says he is an advocate. My problems are known to everyone, including the legal notices he sent to me and my company. He wanted me to do a project free for him, but I demanded money for that. So he has been torturing me for the past 2.5 years,” Subramanian is heard saying.
In the video, Subramaniam also claimed that Saravanarajramachandran had been harassing him, as the latter had apparently alleged that Subramaniam had hacked his phone.
“The government, MK Stalin, Annamalai IPS should take notice of this and get them punished,” Subramaniam said.
In the second video, Subramaniam is heard asking his wife to take care of their two-year-old child. “He (Ramalingam) has the arrogance that he can do anything since he is a lawyer. He might torture us. This is what he has been doing for the past 2.5 years. I couldn’t focus on my career and I think this will be a suitable lesson for him,” he alleged. It is believed that he died by suicide after recording the video.
Railway Sub-Inspector Ravichandran, who is investigating the case, told TNM that the veracity of the allegations in the videos is being examined. He added that further action will be taken accordingly.
Further details about the investigation are awaited.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
(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.)