Hyderabad: A man covered in flames ran into Hyderabad Archbishop’s house compound in Secunderabad on Saturday morning, and died in a few minutes. The man in his 30s, who has not yet been identified, shouted ‘Jesus’ and ‘Halleluiah’ while running towards the house, where Archbishop Tumma Bala lives. Police said the man came in an autorickshaw with two litres of petrol. He poured petrol over his body, lit himself and ran towards the house. The police is trying to find out if the man had earlier worked for the Bishop. The Bishop’s personal staff said they have never seen him before. The reason for the suicide remains a mystery.
The man was wearing a rosary, indicating that he was a Catholic. Police said they could not get any documents from him. The bag he was carrying was completely burnt. The personal staff of the Archbishop said that he was in Bhopal and the person, who ended his life, was a total stranger. “There was a Mass at St Mary’s Basilica. We thought it was somebody who came there. We called our people to identify the person but no one knew him,” said Fr B. Prem, the Archbishop’s personal secretary.
The CCTV footage retrieved by Gopalapuram police from a petrol pump on SD Road showed him buying a bottle of petrol. “He got down from an autorickshaw, paid the driver and walked to the petrol bunk, where he bought a litre of petrol. Then he walked towards the Bishop's house,” said north zone DCP B. Sumathi. CCTV footage showed he was carrying a bag in which he had another bottle filled with petrol.
“We are trying to identify him and to find out why he ended his life,” said the DCP. Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred at around 6 am. “I was cleaning the turf in front of the house when the man opened the gate and walked inside. His dress was in flames but face was visible. He kept on shouting ‘Jesus’ standing in front of St Joseph’s statue,” said the caretaker at the Bishop’s house. “People who saw the incident panicked. Nobody knew what to do. He then went out, collapsed and died on the spot,” said Anand Sharma, a guard at the Bishop’s house. Police booked a case.
