Kerala fisherman hangs to death after failed attempts to secure loan documents from govt
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Kochi (Kerala): A fisherman in Kerala allegedly died by suicide after his repeated attempts to procure a land-related document from the Revenue Division Office for his loan failed.
The deceased man, identified as Sajeevan (57), was from Malyankara in Ernakulam district.
Police said it was on Thursday that the body of Sajeevan was found hanging from a tree at the premises of his house by his wife.
His relatives said he took the drastic step after the officials of the village office and the RDO failed to convert his four cents of land under the paddy land conversion scheme.
When he produced the title deeds of his house as collateral in a bank for loan, it was found that the property was included as paddy land. Thereafter, he approached the Village Office, the Taluk Office and the RDO several times during the last one and half years.
Unable to get justice, he died by suicide after attending the RDO office in Fort Kochi," the police said.
In the meantime, his relatives and the opposition parties alleged that he blamed the Chief Minister and the government in the suicide note. But the police said they are examining the letter as there is some uncertainty in it.
His relatives are preparing to file a complaint against the officials for the lapses.
In a Facebook post, Kerala Revenue Minister K Rajan said that he directed the land revenue joint commissioner to inquire the incident and submit the report within one week.
Kerala Opposition leader VD Satheesan alleged red-tapism in government. He said, "What happened yesterday was very unfortunate. They are poor people who own only 4 cents of land. When they went to get a loan, they knew that their land was recorded as a field. Its procedures are very complicated. The RDO office in Fort Kochi has hundreds of such cases pending. Its procedures are being expedited for large people. The CM had earlier said that every file is every life. There is a file lying there now. Similar issues will be raised again in the Assembly by us. Action must be taken against them. These are the sorrows of the poorest people. Let's see what the government has to say on the matter. This is red-tapism. Files are not moving forward."
