A 60-year-old man who immolated himself on Sunday, May 8, to protest the evictions being carried out in Chennai’s Govindsamy Nagar succumbed to his injuries in the early hours of Monday, May 9.
The residents of Govindaswamy Nagar, near the Buckingham Canal, protested against the evictions being carried out by the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department on Sunday with their petition being heard before the Supreme Court.
After Kannayian set himself ablaze, there was a scuffle between the locals and the officials, and the eviction was temporarily stopped for the day.
A letter signed by several NGOs, according to the Times of India, questioned on what basis the residents were relocated to the outskirts.