Hyderabad: Boda Sunil Kumar Naik, 25, a student of Kakatiya University, died here on Friday, a week after he attempted suicide. His extreme step came after the government announced an increase in the retirement age of government staff, that could adversely affect the job chances of youths.
Naik’s death led to an outcry from political parties demanding that the government immediately start recruiting staff for vacant posts and pay Rs1 crore as ex gratia to Sunil’s family.
Police said Naik, a native of Thejavat Ram Singh thanda of Gudur mandal in Mahbubabad district, had tried for a job in the police in 2016 but did not succeed. He continued to prepare for competitive examinations from a hired room at Hanamkonda.
On coming to know of the extension of retirement age for government employees, Sunil consumed pesticide on March 26 and recorded a selfie video saying he was frustrated with the delay in issuance of notification for jobs by the state government. He blamed Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao for his death.
Recording his statement on the mobile phone, he asked students to protest for jobs. “If I come back, I will join you in the struggle for jobs. If not, you must continue the agitation,” he said.
He was immediately shifted to MGM Hospital in Warangal and later to Hyderabad for better treatment but died at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences on Friday morning. His body was shifted to Gandhi Hospital for post-mortem and later taken to his home village.
Following the incident, unemployed youths have gathered in strength and protested against the government decision that was made as a bait to woo votes for TRS in the recent Legislative Council polls. Police removed them from the spot to control the situation.
Reacting on the incident, BJP state president Banda Sanjay Kumar expressed anguish over the police not allowing Sunil's body to be carried to martyrs statue near the Assembly. He said police in the state have been showing high handedness by insulting the unemployed youth.
TPCC working president A. Revanth Reddy termed the incident as 'state-sponsored murder' and said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and his men who raised the emotions of youths during the statehood agitation and killed hundreds of students were now responsible for Sunil's suicide.
He demanded that the government fill all job vacancies immediately and give unemployment allowance from April to youths.
