Man found hanging from tree near Indian Parliament in New Delhi

A man was found hanging from a tree near the Indian parliament in a parking lot designated for media officials on 12 May, alongside a 23-page suicide note. The man was noticed shortly after 7am IST in the heavily-guarded Vijay Chowk area of New Delhi, which is home to some of the most important government buildings in the capital, including the Rashtrapati Bhawan (President's House).

The man has been identified as Ram Dayal Verma, a father-of-four from Shivpur in the state of Madhya Pradesh. While it remains unclear how the man was able to commit suicide without being noticed in the high security zone, police told Indian broadcaster NDTV the man had arrived Delhi a day earlier.

It is believed that he chose the spot to attract maximum attention over his death as he appears to have travelled to Delhi specifically to commit suicide.

The suicide note indicated that Verma was in debt over cricket betting and that he had lost his life savings, as well as money he had borrowed from people. Police said that his wife had been aware of his betting problem but had been unaware of his intentions.

A senior police official told the Hindustan Times: "The wife was aware about his betting business and wanted to know if he has been arrested. His suicide note also mentions that even though he had lost money in betting earlier, it had become a habit and the loss he suffered this time was beyond repairs. We have out our teams to identify where he put his money and if he had an affiliation to a particular racket."

An inquest has been launched into the death.

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