Kerala DGP orders inquiry into Neyyattinkara couple death

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], December 29 : Kerala Director General of Police (DGP) Loknath Behera on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the death of a couple in Neyyattinkara after a suicide bid by self-immolation.
Thiruvananthapuram Rural SP B Ashokan has been made in charge of the investigation.
The DGP's order came in the wake of allegations levelled against the police that immature handling of the situation by police resulted in the death of the couple.
Earlier, a couple who set themselves ablaze to resist an eviction process succumbed due to burn injuries on December 28, police said.
According to police, the incident had happened at Neyyatinkara in Thiruvananthapuram on December 22 and as the police began evicting a couple from their house based on a court order, the couple resisted the police efforts by attempting suicide by setting themselves on fire.
The Medical College Hospital authorities said that Rajan died of severe burn injuries on Sunday night and his wife Ambili died of the burn injuries on Monday evening.
According to police, the incident took place on December 22 in Nellimoodu village. "We reached the house of Rajan to attach their property based on a court order. To resist the eviction process, Rajan raised suicide threat holding his wife Ambili along and started pouring kerosene over each other," police said.
A video of the incident, shot by an onlooker, surfaced wherein Rajan is seen holding his wife in one hand and threatening police with a lighter in the other hand not to go near them.
When a police personnel tried to foil the bid, the fire from the lighter caught on the couple and they suffered from severe burn injuries. Their children were present when the incident happened.
The relatives of the family alleged that the fire caught when policeman forcefully tried to take the lighter from his hand and the couple did not intend to commit suicide.