SIR Notice Turns Fatal: Malda Teacher Loses Wife and Infant in Accident While Heading for Hearing

A routine administrative process turned tragic in West Bengal's Malda district on Friday, as a school teacher lost his wife and infant in a road accident while travelling to attend Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing related to voter list correction.The victim, MD Yasin Ansari, a teacher at Surajpur Naimouja High Madrasa under Kaliachak, was heading towards the centre along with his wife Halima Khatoon and their 9-month-old, Arif Hasan. The family had received an SIR notice after an alleged spelling error in their names, according to relatives.Early Friday morning, the family boarded a toto from Ambazar near the Sustani area, the vehicle reportedly lost control and overturned. Halima Khatoon died on the spot, while the infant succumbed

to injuries later at the hospital.Victims brother in law, Abdul Rahman Ansari, told Times Now that the SIR notice had caused severe mental stress, "after receiving the notice, they were extremely anxious. If this hearing wasn't required, the tragedy could be avoided."In a deeply distressing turn of events, MD Yasin Ansari was forced to leave the bodies of his wife and child at the Malda Medical College and Hospital's morgue and proceed to the hearing centre to comply with the notice.All India Trinamool Congress has severely criticised the matter and called out the Election Commission over their X handle, saying, "Teacher Mohammad Yasin Ansari lost his wife and his nine-month-old baby in a devastating road accident while travelling to attend a SIR hearing. Their lifeless bodies were sent to the morgue. He survived, injured, shattered, broken. And then came the cruelty that breaks the soul. The very next day, this grieving man was forced to report for a SIR voter hearing. Not to mourn. Not to heal. But to prove his citizenship, so his surviving children do not suffer tomorrow. A man who has not even been given time to cry was dragged into paperwork and suspicion.""SIR is not an administrative exercise. It is a systematic assault on dignity, tearing families apart and crushing people at their most vulnerable," the party said.

However, the BJP has rejected such allegations. South Malda BJP spokesperson Amlan Bhaduri called the incident an unfortunate accident, accusing the ruling party of politicising a personal tragedy. "Linking every death to SIR is misleading. The process is essential for preparing an accurate voter list," he added.The incident has raised serious questions about the human impact of administrative procedures, even as the political blame game continues.Inputs by Milton Paul of the Malda District