In a bizarre incident, a 70-year-old man from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, attempted suicide by burying himself, claiming that God had called him.
The incident took place on Wednesday but only came to light on Friday.
Thatireddy Lachi Reddy had constructed his own crematorium in his field in Gannavaram village, Macherla block of Guntur district. However, police prevented him from committing suicide, and counselled him.
Lachi Reddy had dug a 10-foot-deep grave and placed a concrete slab next to it. He planned to pull the slab over the pit after getting into it. However, police arrived at the spot swiftly and prevented him from taking such a step.
#BuiltHisOwnGrave: Want to leave this world as I have got my call from God, said 70-year-old Lachchi Reddy in letter to #Guntur police; the spiritually inclined man had built a samadhi for himself in a corner of his field; police counselled & stopped him @tweetsreekanth_ @ndtv pic.twitter.com/FndD27aijw
— Uma Sudhir (@umasudhir) July 27, 2018
Police were alerted by the District Collector, after Lachi Reddy had written a letter seeking permission to end his life.
When Reddy disclosed his plans to those in the area and constructed the crematorium , they tried preventing it. However seeing that Reddy was defiant, they pointed out that his family members would be in legal trouble if he went ahead with his plans.
Worried about this, Reddy approached the Collector on Wednesday and stated that he wanted to end his life and that this should not cause any trouble to his family members.
After the Collector read the strange request, he immediately alerted the local police.
Police said that the man was spiritually-inclined and claimed that he wanted to reach God by burying himself. They further stated that Reddy’s wife had passed away recently.
According to police, he had told the villagers that since his son and grandson were settled in life, there was nothing left for him to do and hence wanted to reach God.
A police officer said they counselled the old man and let him off after he assured them that he would not attempt self-burial again.
Police did not register any case against Reddy.