Tunisian Fruit Seller Commits Suicide as Police Confiscate His Scales

ALBAWABA - A Tunisian fruit seller committed suicide because the authorities in his hometown confiscated his scales last Thursday. 

Mohamed Amine Dridi, 25, hanged himself on Saturday two days after the electronic scales he used in his fruit and vegetable stall were taken, Tunisian media reported and as stated by AFP. As a consequence the Tunisian police arrested the Tunisian mayor of Mornag Omar Hirbaoui but eventually set him free pending further investigations.

Dridi's suicide sent many on the streets in Mornag that lies to the south of the capital Tunis, and where people set tires and fire lead police to use tear gas to disperse them according to reports.

His suicide is a reminder of Mohammad Bouazizi, a fruit seller, who set his himself on fire in December 2010 and triggered the Arab Spring that spread to the rest of the Arab world and lead to regime change in a number of regional countries that included his own. 

The Arab Spring was the result of a bad economic situation that was worsening. This time around, Tunisia continues to suffer from high employment and soaring cost of living especially among its young population.