Fear surrounding the Special Investigation Report (SIR) for voter list verification has claimed another life in Murshidabad. The deceased has been identified as Hasina Bibi (76), a resident of Sarvapalli village in the Jalangi police station under Murshidabad. Her family alleges that the extreme mental pressure and anxiety caused by the Election Commission’s “whimsical” decisions led to her untimely demise.
Local sources revealed that the Election Commission had served a hearing notice to Hasina Bibi’s youngest son. According to the family, the elderly woman had been in a state of severe distress ever since the notice arrived, fearing that her son might lose his citizenship. Distraught by these thoughts, she had reportedly stopped eating. On Wednesday morning, her health deteriorated suddenly. She was rushed to a local hospital and later referred to Domkal Sub-divisional Hospital, but she passed away en route. Doctors’ preliminary suspect a fatal cardiac arrest induced by acute anxiety.
Expressing his grief, one of the victim’s sons said, “Since my younger brother received the notice, my mother was constantly restless. She kept asking if their names would be struck off the list and what would happen to us. I tried to console her repeatedly, but the worry consumed her.” Relatives have pointedly blamed the Election Commission, citing frequent policy changes and unnecessary harassment as the reasons for this tragic outcome.
The incident has ignited anger in the Ghoshpara area of Jalangi. Residents allege that the Commission is constantly shifting its guidelines, demanding specific documents one day and rejecting them the next. Many locals claimed that common citizens are paying the price for the alleged administrative blunders of the Election Commission and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, suggesting that central policies are being used to exert undue pressure on voters.
Firoz Ali, the local Panchayat Pradhan, made a startling claim, saying, “Notices are being selectively served to those who have more than six children. This has left people from the marginalized sections of society completely bewildered.”
This is not the first time SIR-related panic has led to a fatality in the Jalangi block; similar tragedies have been reported in the past.
