A 46-year-old man who was detained by Kanathur police in connection with a theft committed suicide by setting himself on fire at the police station early on Monday.
Humayun, a tailor working in a leather bag shop, was detained for questioning after a woman lodged a complaint about her stolen gold ornament, police said.
The woman alleged that Humayun and his associate, Shoukat Ali, had gone to her house recently to fix a mosquito net and that she found her ear studs missing after the two left.
The police had detained the two on Sunday for questioning. Shoukat Ali was let of at night while Humayun was detained for further questioning.
Well past midnight, Humayun’s wife Yasmin received a call from the station saying that he had set himself on fire in front of the station and that he had been taken to the Kilpauk medical college.
Yasmin rushed to the hospital where she was told that her husband had
died.
Police claimed that Humayun insisted during investigation that he had not stolen anything.
“He doused himself with kerosene kept in the station and set himself on fire just outside.
The kerosene can was kept in the station as an evidence in another case of suicide 15 days ago,” the police said.
However, members of the Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam staged a protest outside the police station alleging foul play in Humayun’s death.