Maharashtra: Vegetable seller hangs himself after receiving electricity bill worth Rs 8.64 lakh

A vegetable seller from Maharashtra on Thursday allegedly ended his own life, after he received an electricity bill of Rs 8.64 lakh. The 40-year old man left a suicide note before hanging himseft from a ceiling fan at his residence.

The man was identified as Jagannath Shelke, who was reportedly upset by the electricity bill which he had received for March.

The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) claimed that the corrected figure of his bill should have been 6,117.8 KWH instead of 61,178 KWH. The actual amount should have been around Rs 2,803, as per the reports.

According to reports, Shelke visited the power distribution office several times and was asked to pay up instead of sorting the problem out.

"The deceased was apparently under severe stress after getting a bill with such figures. He pinned a note to his body saying he was extremely distressed with the humungous electricity bill and hence was forced to take his own life. We are in the process of lodging a complaint," a police officer from the Garkheda police station was quoted as saying by a leading daily.

The MSEDCL in Aurangabad has suspended the clerk who made the mistake in computing the bill.

The incident took place in Bharatnagar within the Pundliknagar police station in Aurangabad, as per the police.

Sheikh’s family have stated that they would not cremate his body until the guilty are arrested, a leading daily reported.

The police have registered a case of accidental death.