Stressed, 38-year-old policeman ends life

The police said that the deceased man, an inspector, was a resident of Rewari and lived with his family on rent. He used to travel to Gurugram for work every day.

A 38-year-old police officer posted with the traffic unit of Gurugram allegedly hanged himself at his house in Rewari late Saturday night. According to the Gurugram police, the reason behind the incident is yet to be known. However, the local police and family members of the officer said that he was suffering from work-related stress.

The incident took place when he returned home after finishing his shift. (HT archives. Representative image)

The police said that the deceased man, an inspector, was a resident of Rewari and lived with his family on rent. He used to travel to Gurugram for work every day. The officer was earlier posted as a station house officer (SHO) at a police station in the city and was transferred to the traffic unit recently. The incident took place when he returned home after finishing his shift.

Dinesh Kumar, sub-inspector (SI), Model Town police station, Rewari, said, “He returned to his house around 11pm and had dinner. Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, he was sleeping in a separate room at home, as a precautionary measure. On Sunday around 7am, when his wife went to his room, she saw him hanging.” He added that the family immediately took him to a hospital where the doctors declared him dead on arrival.

“The family has informed us that the deceased man was suffering from work-related stress,” the SI said.

However, in a statement, Subhash Boken, spokesperson, Gurugram police, said, “There was no suicide note found from the spot. The officer’s family did not tell us any reason which led to the incident.”

However, the father of the deceased man said, “I am yet to know the exact details of the incident. But three or four days ago, I spoke with him. He told me that his son was very ill and he wanted to take an off from work so that he could take him to a doctor. But he did not get any leave, due to which he was stressed.”

The deceased man’s body was handed over to his family member after a post-mortem examination on Sunday. The police have initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the code of criminal procedure (CrPC).

Gurugram does not have a dedicated helpline to deal with such situations. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are +914066202000 from ‘Roshni’ (Hyderabad-based) and +914424640050 from Sneha India Foundation (Delhi-based).