Man who set himself on fire was ‘desperate after pension stopped’

The 69-year-old Dutchman who set himself on fire outside the Dutch embassy in Jakarta on Friday had been threatening to commit suicide for some time, because his state pension had been stopped, Nos television reports.


The man had written to newspapers, the ombudsman and prime minister asking for help in getting his pension restored, Nos says. He has lived in Indonesia for some time.
In the letters, the man says he, his wife and three children ‘live on the street’ and blames the embassy for failing to help him.
A source at the social insurance bank SVB told Nos the man’s pension had been stopped because he no longer had a fixed address and it had become impossible to pay it.
The man remains in a critical condition in hospital.

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