Kerala Man Climbs High Voltage Tower Demanding House

Kottayam, Kerala:

A small village in this southern Kerala district on Thursday morning witnessed hours-long dramatic scenes when a man climbed up a high voltage tower demanding a house for his family as well as seeking to meet Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and actor-politician Suresh Gopi.

The man who, according to the local residents, climbed the tower at 6 am, initially refused to come down despite the efforts of the police, fire rescue personnel and panchayat officials of the area near Kattachira here.

The power supply through the line was also shut off at 9.30 am, according to a KSEB official.

A fire official told PTI that when they tried to get onto the over 80 feet tall tower to rescue him, the man, a resident of Erattupetta, threatened to climb further up.

"So, we came back down," the official said.

Finally, at around 12 noon, after panchayat officials assured him that his demand for a house would be addressed, he came down from the tower and was taken into police custody.

After coming down, he told TV channels that he came down trusting the officials and said that if his demand is not met, next time he would give poison to his wife and kids and then die by suicide himself.

"I climbed the tower with the intention to die. I had no other option. I saw no reason to continue living. I wanted to see the Chief Minister," he said.

The panchayat officials told TV channels that they would try to ensure that a home is built for the man by March this year. "We will try to ensure some temporary accommodation for him and his family till then," they said.

The police, which had taken him into custody, said that he was sent home with his mother. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)