In cash-strapped Sri Lanka, two more persons die while waiting in queue for fuel
Colombo, Jul 22: Two men died in cash-strapped Sri Lanka on Friday while waiting in serpentine queues to purchase fuel as widespread shortages and soaring inflation levels continue to heap misery on citizens.
The two deaths were reported on a day when newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday appointed Dinesh Gunawardena as the Prime Minister in a bid to restore political stability and mitigate the worst economic crisis that has virtually bankrupted the island nation.
The 59-year-old man had left his motorcycle for over two nights near a filling station in Kinniya, a town located in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province, collapsed on Friday, according to news portal Lanka First.
The victim's body was shifted to the Kinniya Base Hospital for post-mortem examination, it said.
A 70-year-old man also died after collapsing while waiting in line for fuel at a filling station in Mathugama, in the country's Western Province.
Fuel was delivered to the filling station after 10 days, and there was a rush to obtain fuel due to the absence of a proper system of distribution, the report said.
The man collapsed during the rush and was admitted to the Meegahatenna Regional Hospital where he was ruled dead upon admission, it added.
This is not the first time that a person has died while waiting for fuel in Sri Lanka.
Similar incidents have been reported since the beginning of 2022, with some even dying of exhaustion brought about by severe heat.
Last week, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera introduced a National Fuel Pass for the citizens to obtain fuel through regularising distribution, according to news portal Economy Next.
The new fuel pass will allow each motorist to obtain a minimum quantity of fuel on a weekly basis, Wijesekera said.
Despite these measures, filling stations are going dry and frequent clashes are being witnessed near filling stations across the country.
Sri Lanka received the first of three fuel shipments last week, Wijesekera said, the first shipments to reach the country in about three weeks.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's inflation firmed up in June as the country's broader measure of consumer prices jumped by 59 per cent from a year ago, accelerating from 45.3 per cent in May, according to the country's National Consumer Price Index.
Sri Lanka's newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe, has been leading crucial talks with the International Monetary Fund, last week said that negotiations were nearing conclusion.
Sri Lanka needs about USD 5 billion in the next six months to cover basic necessities for its 22 million people, who have been struggling with long queues, worsening shortages and power cuts.
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Broken relationships don't automatically amount to abetment of suicide: SC
New Delhi (PTI): Broken relationships, while emotionally distressing, do not automatically amount to abetment of suicide in the absence of intention leading to the criminal offence, the Supreme Court on Friday said.
The observations came from a bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Ujjal Bhuyan in a judgement, which overturned the conviction of one Kamaruddin Dastagir Sanadi by the Karnataka High Court for the offences of cheating and abetment of suicide under the IPC.
"This is a case of a broken relationship, not criminal conduct," the judgment said.
Sanadi was initially charged under Sections 417 (cheating), 306 (abetment of suicide), and 376 (rape) of the IPC.
While the trial court acquitted him of all the charges, the Karnataka High Court, on the state's appeal, convicted him of cheating and abetment of suicide, sentencing him to five years imprisonment and imposing Rs 25,000 in fine.
According to the FIR registered at the mother's instance, her 21-year-old daughter was in love with the accused for the past eight years and died by suicide in August, 2007, after he refused to keep his promise to marry.
Writing a 17-page judgement, Justice Mithal analysed the two dying declarations of the woman and noted that neither was there any allegation of a physical relationship between the couple nor there was any intentional act leading to the suicide.
The judgement therefore underlined broken relationships were emotionally distressing, but did not automatically amount to criminal offences.
"Even in cases where the victim dies by suicide, which may be as a result of cruelty meted out to her, the courts have always held that discord and differences in domestic life are quite common in society and that the commission of such an offence largely depends upon the mental state of the victim," said the apex court.
The court further said, "Surely, until and unless some guilty intention on the part of the accused is established, it is ordinarily not possible to convict him for an offence under Section 306 IPC.”
The judgement said there was no evidence to suggest that the man instigated or provoked the woman to die by suicide and underscored a mere refusal to marry, even after a long relationship, did not constitute abetment.
