Sabarimala Row: Man dies after setting himself on fire, BJP calls state-wide hartal

Thiruvanthapuram : A 49-year-old man died after setting himself on fire near the near Bharatiya Janata Party’s protest site over Sabarimala temple row here in Kerala on Thursday.

The deceased has been identified as Venugopalan Nair, who is said to be a Sabarimala devotee as he was heard chanting the ‘swami saranam’ hymns in flames.

Nair had suffered 60% burns and succumbed to his injuries at the Government Medical College hospital while undergoing treatment.

Protesting the death of Nair, the BJP and Sabarimala Action Committee called for dawn-to-dusk hartal across the state today.

The state government said it was constitutionally bound to implement the Supreme Court verdict.

On September 28, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of allowing menstrual age women to the temple, against its age-old rituals, triggering protests largely under the aegis of the BJP.

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