Self immolation: Family comes first

Auto rickshaw driver Samala Rajamouli of Kasibugga set himself on fire on March 26 this year. He is survived by wife Lalitha, son Sarath Chandra (a third year engineering student) and daughter Sirisha (studying degree final year). The grief-stricken family is yet to come out of the shock of Rajamouli’s death. “Our father might have become a Telangana martyr, but it is our fate that he didn’t think about us before taking the extreme step. My mother, a worker in a tobacco factory, is now burdened with our education and family responsibilities,” say the children.Sarath Chandra is now running his father’s autorickshaw during free time so as to support his mother.“I’ve nothing against those fighting for separate Telangana, but just want them to remember that ‘family comes first’ and understand the true value of life. In all the suicide cases, it’s their families which pay the big price,” he said.The engineering student appears to make a point there.