Fearing He Has Coronavirus, Man Locks Up Family, Kills Self To ‘Protect’ Village

A man in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh killed himself Tuesday morning suspecting that he had contracted coronavirus, according to his family.

Balakrishnayya, 50, of Srikalahasti, took the extreme step fearing that he might spread the lethal infection in the village and could be a threat to his own family.

He came under the impression when he visited a local hospital on Feb. 5 with a heart ailment and doctors advised him to wear a mask as he showed symptoms of cold.

"He had gone to hospital for checkup regarding heart ailment. The doctors told him to use a mask.... he misunderstood and thought he was infected with coronavirus," his son Balamurali told local news channel NDTV.

Balamurali said he tried to convince his father that he hadn’t contracted the virus but he wouldn’t believe. He kept his family members at a distance in order to protect them. Balamurali said Balakrishnayya needed proper counseling to quell his delusion.

Balakrishnayya browsed through several videos on the internet about symptoms of coronavirus and was certain that those matched that of his. He locked up his family in the house before hanging himself from a tree so that they could not seek help to stop him, Balamurali added.

World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially named coronavirus as COVID-19 on Monday. COVI is the acronym of the virus, D stands for disease, and 19 implies the year of the outbreak. The death toll in China in the wake of the virus has surpassed the 1,000 mark as of Tuesday. It has affected people in over 20 countries since the outbreak. Three cases of coronavirus were reported in Kerala, India, last month.