Death of popular Indian politico sparks wave of suicides and deaths from "shock"

The recent helicopter-crash death of Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy (known as YSR), a popular Indian politician who held the office of Chief Minister of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, has sparked a round of suicides and deaths from "shock" from distraught fans. The death toll stands at 60 and is apparently rising.

In the wake of reports that about 60 persons either committed suicide or died of shock after hearing the news of the death of Andhra Pradesh chief minister YSR Reddy, his son Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday appealed to the people not to resort to such extreme steps.

"Due to such acts (suicides) my father's soul will not rest in peace. He had an ever-smiling face and worked for uplift of the poor. They (people) should not resort to such acts," an emotional Jagan said in a statement.

According to media reports, eight persons suffered cardiac arrest after hearing the news of Reddy's death in a chopper crash.

60 YSR fans die of shock, son appeals for restraint

[#1 posted by Anonymous, September 3, 2009 11:15 PM]

This type of thing is less shocking when you've lived in India, where reincarnation is rarely doubted as a fact of life. So often I was mocked for guarding my life too preciously when expressing concern at terribly unsafe driving. It is SO different from life in the West.

[#2 posted by zikman, September 3, 2009 11:35 PM]

now that's how I wanna go

[#3 posted by Kawentzmann, September 4, 2009 2:30 AM]

So he was a good guy. Was it foul play then?

[#4 posted by Ugly Canuck, September 4, 2009 4:54 AM]

There are fans, and then there are fans!

[#5 posted by Adam Stanhope, September 4, 2009 6:23 AM]

Mass hysteria seems to be far more common in India than it is in the West. Remember the Delhi Monkey Man scare a few years back?

[#6 posted by Anonymous, September 4, 2009 6:36 AM]

Now that's what I call overreacting.

[#7 posted by Takuan, September 4, 2009 6:43 AM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27_suicides_in_India

[#8 posted by JayByrd, September 4, 2009 7:05 AM]

Too bad the fans of Rush, Hannity and Beck don't feel the same devotion.

[#9 posted by sleze, September 4, 2009 8:11 AM]

@2 - yeah...no one will be killing themselves when I go :(

[#10 posted by sigsegv, September 4, 2009 12:11 PM]

Mass hysteria seems to be far more common in India than it is in the West.

I'd replace "mass hysteria" with "personality cults" - I've heard of Indian movie stars with their own temples and worshipers, and religious cults spring up like mushrooms there.

But this article seems a little overblown - the "suicides" in the headlines only seem to number four, and the article provides no evidence that they had anything to do with this politician's death. And in a nation with as many people as India, I'd guess that the same number of people died of heart attacks and heart failure over the same time period before anything happened to this guy.

My guess is this politician's son stepped up and begged people to stop killing themselves over his father's death - even though no one was. Instant news story about how popular his father was - and I'd bet the son is a politician also.

[#11 posted by Anonymous, September 4, 2009 12:41 PM]

@8 - what have you got against music Jaybyrd? I haven't heard Hannity but Rush and Beck are awesome. So you want their fans to kill themselves? That's messed up dude.

I'm gonna go crank up 2112 right now.