After digging a grave for himself in the courtyard of his house three years ago, a Kerala atheist hanged himself, preparing beforehand his own burial.
According to a report by the Indian Express, 70-year-old Joseph Konur had asked his relatives and friends to turn up at his house at Munithandu near Adimali in Idukki district, a day before he committed suicide. He reportedly did not blame anyone for the drastic step and had asked in his suicide note to 'bury (his) body as per (his) wish'.
He had handed over the money required for the burial to his relatives and also asked a worker to clean the grave a day before he hanged himself from the staircase of his house, the report said.
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Quoting rationalist Sathyan Konattu, the report said that Konur had constructed the grave as a mark of protest against religion and rituals.
Earlier this year, the brutal murder of another atheist from Kerala shocked everyone.
Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK) activist and atheist H Farook was murdered in Coimbatore by a mob.
Farook, who belonged to pro-Periyar rationalist group DVK, was killed because of a Facebook post in which one of his children held a placard saying ‘Kadavul illai, Kadavul illai, Kadavul illai (No God, No God, No God)’.
