In a heart-wrenching incident, a 70-year old man died in the early hours of Friday in his house after refusing to take food for a week.

Francis, who was working as a watchman in a textile mill in Thudiyalur, refused to take food for the last one week as he was removed from his job, according to the police.

Francis was fired after he reportedly failed to record the receipt of a parcel that arrived at the mill a couple of days ago. Dejected over losing the job, he locked himself inside a room in his house, after telling his wife that he will not take food till he was proved innocent, they said.

Despite his wife coaxing him to accept food through window, the man refused it.This morning as the wife heard murmurs from the room, she sought the help of neighbours, who broke open the door and took Francis to the CMCH. However, he died before admission. Further investigations are on, police said.