Assam man fighting citizenship case dies by suicide

A 60-year-old man, who was fighting a case at a Foreigners Tribunal despite his name appearing in the National Register for Citizens (NRC), has allegedly died by suicide in Morigaon district, officials said on Wednesday.

The family of Manik Das of Borkhal village claimed he ended his life because of "frustration and mental torture" he faced while attending the proceedings at the Tribunal to prove his Indian citizenship.

Police said Das was missing since Sunday and his body was found hanging from a tree on a hillock near his house on Tuesday evening.

"The body has been sent for postmortem. Prima facie it's a case of suicide but we can say it with certainty only after the postmortem," an official said.

According to official sources, Das was cremated on Wednesday after postmortem. The family of the deceased alleged he was going through a bout of depression due to the case against him at the Foreigners' Tribunal-2 in Morigaon.

"The case has been going on for many years. We don't know why the police sent a notice to him and filed the case. My father's name appeared in the NRC. He was frustrated and faced mental torture due to the entire process," said the minor daughter of Das.

The deceased is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. The daughter also claimed that Das had all valid legal identity documents such as PAN card, Aadhaar card and land records in his name.

Morigaon Deputy Superintendent of Police (Border) D R Bora, however, said family issues could have driven Das to take the extreme step. "It is totally wrong to link the alleged suicide with the FT case. The cause of suicide might be household issues," he told PTI.

The case against Das was registered at the Tribunal in 2004. Bora claimed only notice was served on Das and no case was registered against any member of his family in accordance with the guidelines of the Gauhati High Court.

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