Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Jan 3: In a sad incident, a Gulf returnee committed suicide here on Wednesday January 2, a day after he shared details on Facebook about how he was cheated by three persons in the city.

The deceased has been identified as Austin Noronha (55), a resident of Vamanjoor here.

Sources said that he had been working in Qatar for over 25 years, before returning to his hometown last year.

On Tuesday January 1, he took to Facebook to allege that he had been cheated by three persons who promised to help him buy land and build houses. Austin in his post said that when he returned from Qatar he had over Rs 20 lac in savings, but the three persons together cheated him out of it all, so much so that his family had to even go without food at times. He also shared the names and phone numbers of the people who allegedly cheated him.

Sources said that Austin was allegedly duped by the three people a year ago, and on January 1, he shared his experience publicly again. On January 2, he committed suicide at his residence by hanging. Mangaluru rural police arrived at the spot and registered a case.

Austin was a founding member of Mangalore Freethinkers group.

He leaves behind his wife and two children.