In Kalyani, 72 year old Jaharlal Mahato died of cardiac arrest on Monday, 48 hours after attending an SIR hearing. His son Tamaghlal told The Times of India that Mahato had been distressed since the hearing, despite his name appearing on the 2002 voters’ list.
Deaths reported after SIR notices
IDurjan Majhi, 82, was run over by a train at around 8.30 am, nearly five hours before his hearing at the Para BDO office. According to his family, Majhi had been anxious since receiving the SIR hearing notice on December 25.
“My father had submitted the SIR enumeration form but his name was not on the draft voters’ list. His name was on the 2002 voters’ list, though. We can’t figure out why he was called to a hearing. He had been anxious since getting the hearing notice,” his son Kanai, a daily wage labourer, told TOI.
n Howrah’s Amta, 75 year old Jamat Ali died at his residence on Sunday night, hours after receiving a hearing notice, The Times of India reported. Howrah district magistrate P Deepap Priya said Ali was already unwell. “He was already unwell. His family claimed he was anxious about the hearing. An inquiry is underway,” the DM told TOI.
Elderly and infirm voters wait in queues
As SIR hearings entered their third day on Monday, several elderly and vulnerable voters were seen waiting in queues at hearing venues, according to TOI. At Dinhata Block I BDO office in Cooch Behar, 96 year old Nikhil Chandra Sarkar arrived with his wife and son despite struggling to walk due to age and ailments.
“I am the only one in my family to get the SIR notice. My name was not on the 2002 list. I gave them whatever documents I had,” Sarkar told The Times of India. At Katwa I BDO office in East Burdwan, a 90 year old bedridden woman, Muktibala Paramanik, was seen standing in a queue for a hearing. “This is harassment,” her grandson Paritosh Paramanik told TOI.
Pregnant woman falls ill during hearing queue
At the Basirhat Block II BDO office in North 24 Parganas’ Taki, an eight month pregnant woman fell ill while waiting in a long queue, TOI reported. Supriya Mondal had received an SIR hearing notice after her name did not feature on the 2002 electoral roll. Her mother, Khukurani Das, said her daughter collapsed after feeling dizzy while waiting in the crowd.
EC reiterates home visits for elderly voters
The Election Commission on Monday reiterated that booth level officials would visit the homes of voters aged 85 years and above, as well as those with disabilities and ailments, if requests were made, The Times of India reported. However, East Burdwan district magistrate Ayesha Rani told TOI that no written instruction on home visits had been received.
“We did not get any written instruction that hearings for elderly people should be conducted at home. Even so, I instructed that elderly and infirm people should not be called,” she said.
Similar scenes reported in Kolkata
In central Kolkata, a young woman arrived at a hearing venue carrying her three month old child. Her husband, Md Hussain, told TOI that the hearing was triggered by a documentation mismatch.
“While filling the enumeration form, my wife had mistakenly entered her father’s details as per the 2025 voter ID card instead of the 2002 electoral roll. She was called to the hearing because of the mismatch,” he said.
(With TOI inputs)