LAHORE: An elderly man allegedly set himself on fire and died after some local residents labelled him a coronavirus patient in Ghaziabad area, the police said on Thursday.

Identified as Hanif Ahmad, 68, the deceased was an asthma patient and the coronavirus tag forced him to end his life, a police official said.

Quoting his family members, he said Hanif’s condition got serious on the day of the incident and as he complained about breathing problems due to attack of asthma, some neighbours called him a Covid-19 case due to his identical symptoms.

He said Hanif was also aware of the fact that the percentage of mortality of the Covid-19 was high in elderly patients. The official said Hanif arranged petrol and set himself on fire in a local graveyard.

The police rushed to the site on being alerted, shifted him to a local hospital where he succumbed to his wounds. The police official said the elderly man told the police moments before his death that someone in his area had called him a confirmed patient of coronavirus. He said the family of the deceased refused to take legal action against anyone.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2020