TIRUPATI: In a bizarre incident, a 50-year-old man who feared he had contracted the deadly

, committed suicide by hanging himself to a tree in

,

on Monday.

According to K Bala Murali, the eldest son of the victim, his father

(50), a native of Seshamanaidu Kandriga village in

of Chittoor district fell ill a few days ago and visited the SVRR government general hospital in

for medical consultation.

When he consulted the doctors at the SVRR government general hospital in Tirupati on February 5, they told him he was suffering from some viral infection and advised him some medication. The doctors had also advised him to wear a mask so that the infection does not spread to others.

After spending a couple of days in Tirupati, Bala Krishna who returned back to his village on Sunday, told his family members that he had contracted the deadly Coronavirus and warned them not to come anywhere closer to him.

When family members tried to get closer to him to console him and tell him he could not have contracted Coronavirus, he attacked them by pelting stones and shooed them away.

did not allow his relatives or neighbours to come anywhere closer to him the whole day.

"My father kept on watching Coronavirus related videos the whole day and went on saying he has similar symptoms and that he was infected with the deadly virus. He told us as well as our relatives that he feared the deadly virus could spread to them and others could get infected as well if they came anywhere closer to him. When any of us tried, he pelted stones on us," said the victim's son.

On Monday night around 2.30am, when all his family members were fast asleep, Bala Krishna bolted his home from outside and went away.

Around 3am his family members realized that Bala Krishna was missing and their home was locked from outside. Bala Krishna's wife Lakshmi Devi dialed up her neighbours who rushed there and opened the doors.

The family members and villagers who went in search for Bala Krishna were shocked to see him hanging from a tree near his mother's graveyard on the outskirts of the village.

Family members told mediapersons that sheer fear of having contracted the deadly Coronavirus resulted in the death of the breadwinner of their family.

The deceased is survived by his wife Lakshmi Devi (45), two sons K Bala Murali (22), K

(19) and a daughter K Shilpa (15).

The victim's son who works as a gram volunteer told TOI that after seeing his father's mentally disturbed state, he had called up several toll free numbers of the state government seeking a counselling session for his father but none had turned up. "If only anyone behind the toll free numbers had responded in time, my father would have been alive today. Our only appeal to the government is to create awareness on Coronavirus among the people so that no one else dies like my father due to ignorance," appealed Bala Murali.

Confirming the development,

SI

told TOI that no case was registered so far as the family members were yet to lodge a complaint.