D Gautham, son of former BBMP corporator.
Credit: Special Arraangement
The son of a former BBMP corporator was found dead at the family's home in Attiguppe, West Bengaluru, on Thursday afternoon, according to police.
D Gautham (29) had locked himself in after lunch on Wednesday. That was the last time his family saw him, police said.
His father, K Doddanna, a former Congress party corporator from Attiguppe, asked his other son to call Gautham for lunch around 1.30 pm on Thursday. The sibling knocked on Gautham's bedroom door, but didn't get a response. Calls to his phone also went unanswered.
When the family broke the door open, they were stunned to find him hanging from the ceiling fan. He had apparently stood on a plastic chair placed on the cot and tied a sari around his neck to hang himself, Doddanna told the police.
According to the former corporator, his son had become a recluse in the last few days and refused to talk about things that bothered him.
Doddanna said he had no idea why his son had killed himself nor did he suspect any foul play.
Some reports suggested that Gautham was a BBMP contractor and awaited payments from the civic body.
Gautham's brother-in-law scotched this. "He was neither a contractor nor had he undertaken any government works," he told reporters outside the family's residence. "He was too young to be doing government work. He seemed to have been depressed. We had been trying to get him married and had looked at three potential matches."
The brother-in-law accused the Opposition BJP of linking the suicide to the ongoing controversy related to the BBMP contractors' pending bills. "Gautham neither had a contract licence nor did the BBMP owe him any payments. The BJP is trying to create confusion in people's minds. Don't fall prey to that," he added.
However, Gautham's elder brother Harish is a BBMP contractor and awaits payments from the civic body, according to K T Manjunath, president of the BBMP Contractors' Association.
Harish is part of a contractors' delegation that has been meeting state government ministers and opposition politicians for the last few days seeking clearance of pending bills, Manjunath told DH.
He confirmed that Gautham was not a BBMP contractor.