Elderly man in Barasat dies after setting himself on fire

In two separate incidents, an elderly person committed suicide and a young housewife attempted to end her life. Both of them committed the act by setting themselves on fire.

The elderly person, who was suffering from various diseases, committed suicide at Barasat's Saroj Park area outside his house.

In the second incident, the housewife could not tolerate the verbal barbs of her husband and in-laws over her maternity issues. The in-laws mentally and physically assaulted her because she could not give birth to a child which led the woman to take the ultimate step. She was admitted in a hospital in critical situation.

In North 24 Parganas' Barasat at Saroj Park, a retired state government employee, Shantiranjan Biswas committed suicide. Biswas was suffering from various diseases. His ailments made him mentally distressed. Police learnt that Biswas had earlier tried to commit suicide as well. On Saturday, Biswas poured kerosene all over himself and he set himself on fire. It was early in the morning when the incident took place. The elderly citizen was charred to death in absence of any people there.

The investigating officers found a suicide note beside the remains of the body of Biswas. An investigation has been initiated.

At Narkeldanga, police arrested the accused husband of the housewife, Binod Shaw. Police learnt that Shaw used to taunt his wife over her inability to have a child. Police learnt that they married in 2007 and used to quarrel over these issues. An investigation was initiated.

It may be recalled that a septuagenarian woman got charred to death at Bijoygarh Park under Jadavpur police station in South Kolkata a few days ago.

The shocking incident took place early morning. Hearing the screams of Kalpana Bardhan (75), people living in the area came out there and found her ablaze in a corner of the park.