Upset with father's alcoholism, 17-yr-old TN boy hangs self, leaves PM note

Tirunelveli: People in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu were left shocked on Wednesday morning after a 17-year-old boy committed suicide by hanging himself from a flyover near Vannarapettai area.

Police found a note from the teenager's pocket that read that he was committing suicide because of his father's alcoholism and requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palanisamy to prohibit the sale of liquor in the state, the police said.

Police identified the boy as M Dinesh Nallasivan, who had appeared for his Class 12 board exams and was waiting for results. The boy had been preparing for the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) and was supposed to write the exam on May 6.

In the suicide note, M Dinesh Nallasivan also wrote that his father should not be allowed to perform his last rites and stated that his soul would rest in peace only if his father gave up alcohol.

"Let us see if the chief minister closes down TASMAC (Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation) liquor shops in Tamil Nadu. If not, my spirit will destroy the shops," the note written in Tamil stated.

Besides the suicide note, a damaged mobile phone wrapped in a plastic cover, his NEET examination hall ticket and SSLC mark sheet was also recovered.

The body was sent to the Tirunelveli Medical College and Hospital for postmortem.

Police said that M Dinesh Nallasivan even tasked another family member to perform the last rites.

M Dinesh Nallasivan was the eldest of the three children of S Madasamy, a labourer in Kerala. His mother died nine years ago, and his father married another woman.

After his mother’s death, M Dinesh Nallasivan was brought up by his paternal uncle Sankarakuthalam alias Mani in Madurai. His brother and sister lived with their stepmother in their native village.

There was a promise of prohibition in Tamil Nadu when the AIADMK, led by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, came to power in 2015. But despite support from most political parties, the matter has not been pursued.

Tamil Nadu was the first state to have a total ban on alcohol. In 1971, the DMK government led by M Karunanidhi had lifted it despite stiff opposition.

The demand for alcohol prohibition started again after neighbouring Kerala implemented a plan for to phase out liquor four years ago. Jayalalithaa, in her campaign, had promised to ban liquor if she was voted to power.