HYDERABAD: Alleging harassment by foisting false cases against him by his estranged wife and her family, a 25-yearold private-sector employee from Santoshnagar committed suicide by setting himself ablaze near Anurag Gate at DRDL in the early hours of Thursday.The victim, Ch Srikanth, a Dalit, in a selfie video posted on social media, blamed marital discord in their inter-faith and inter-caste marriage for him to take the extreme step as his in-laws, including his wife Sriharsha, a Christian belonging to a BC community, were allegedly harassing him. The video became viral.Around midnight, Srikanth set himself ablaze after uploading the 37-minute video and making a phone call and informing his father about his decision to end his life, Santoshnagar police said. As his father and others came out of their house in search of him, they found Srikanth engulfed in flames on the road. He was immediately shifted to Osmania General Hospital (OGH), where he succumbed on Thursday afternoon.In the video, he blamed his father-in-law G Shanmugha Chary, who was a police constable till 2010 in Nalgonda district and a native of Nakrekal, for his decision to commit suicide. Besides, he also blamed his mother-in-law Poornima, Sriharsha, who is now pursuing MBBS in Mahbubnagar, and a few others for harassing him and his family members.On Thursday, Santoshnagar police recorded Srikanth’s dying declaration (DD) before a magistrate at OGH. Subsequently, Srikanth, who suffered 90% burns, succumbed. Initially, police had registered a case under Section 174 (suspicious death) of the CrPC. After his death, based on a complaint lodged by Srikanth’s family, DD and other evidence, police altered the case to Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.However, police said six cases, including one for uploading his wife’s private pictures on social media, were pending against Srikanth at various police stations in the state.Santoshnagar inspector P Sateesh Kumar said the couple got married in 2015 against the wishes of her family. Srikanth, who was pursing B Pharmacy, discontinued studies and took up a job. Sriharsha, however, continued MBBS. Srikanth claimed their relationship soured in 2017 and they parted ways when Sriharsha was in the seventh month of her pregnancy.Srikanth alleged that it was due to Shanmugha Chary and his family, Sriharsha left him and subsequently filed complaints, which led to his family members and he going to jail.

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