Mohammad Saleem, 50, a resident of Shadi Ki Madaiyan village in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh, consumed poison with his two children after learning that their home would be demolished by the authorities.
Mohammad Saleem and his daughter perished on Friday after ingesting poison with his two kids, but his son survived the suicide attempt. The ages of Saleem’s kids were six and eight.
Before the tragic event, representatives from the revenue department visited Mohammad Saleem’s home and told him that since it was constructed on public property, it would be torn down.
Saleem, who was employed at a local tire repair shop, had reportedly purchased the land for Rs 1,90,000 in 2016 and built the house on it.
The land that he purchased was earlier used to be part of a dried-up pond, according to the Times of India.
Mehtab Jahan, the wife of Mohammad Saleem, told the Times of India that a group of officials had visited their village and informed her husband that their house would be demolished soon due to a court order. She added that they had previously received a notice from the tehsildar court demanding them to pay Rs 64 lakh.
According to a relative of Mohammad Saleem who spoke to the newspaper, revenue officials had taken Saleem’s thumb impression on some documents on Thursday, although the officials are denying it.
“Administration officials did visit the village on Thursday and spoke to Saleem. As he is illiterate, they took his thumb impression on some documents, nothing of which he understood,” the relative said.
“I have lost my daughter and husband. I want justice from the government,” Mehtab Jahan said.