Bengaluru: A 41-year-old fruit vendor died by suicide after consuming aluminium phosphide, alleging that he was being harassed through a 'fake' atrocity case and repeated demands for money.
Before taking the extreme step, he reportedly recorded a video message in which he blamed a group of individuals for his death. Kadugodi police have detained four suspects on charges of abetment to suicide.
The deceased has been identified as Papanna, a resident of Channasandra in Kadugodi.
A senior police officer said that in the video, sent around 10.05 pm on Friday, Papanna alleged that Jogi Sheena, Prashanth, Narasappa, Radha, Nayana and eight others had falsely implicated him in an atrocity case and were harassing him for money. Papanna consumed aluminium phosphide and later died.
Papanna claimed in the video that the accused had earlier filed an atrocity case against him in 2021 and had allegedly received up to Rs 10 lakh to withdraw the case.
Papanna further alleged that the accused had once again filed a false case. Describing himself as a poor street vendor, he said he was unable to bear the harassment and appealed to the police to take action against those responsible.
Based on a complaint filed by the deceased's sister, Bhagya S, a social activist, Kadugodi police registered a case of abetment to suicide against the accused, treating the video as a suicide note, and took four of them into custody for further investigation.