Despairing, debt-ridden man takes his own life

A Greek pensioner shot and killed himself in Athens’s parliament square yesterday after crying out to bystanders that crippling…

A Greek pensioner shot and killed himself in Athens’s parliament square yesterday after crying out to bystanders that crippling debts had pushed him to take his life.

Police said at least two witnesses saw the 77-year-old retired pharmacist put a handgun to his head in Syntagma Square, saying: “I have debts, I can’t stand this anymore.”

A note was found in his coat pocket that blamed politicians and financial troubles for driving him to the brink, police said.

The government had “annihilated any hope for my survival and I could not get any justice. I cannot find any other form of struggle except a dignified end before I have to start scrounging for food from the trash,” the note said.

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Another passer-by heard him say: “I don’t want to leave my debts to my children.”

– (Reuters)