Chhattisgarh cop kills wife over argument, dies by suicide

“Constable Mukesh Manhar (30) had an argument with his wife, which reportedly led him to open fire on her with his service rifle. He shot himself and died by suicide after his wife expired,” said Jitendra Shukla, superintendent of police (SP) Rajnanadgaon.

A constable, posted in Communist Party of India (Maoist)-hit Rajnandgaon district in Chhattisgarh, allegedly shot his wife dead and then died by suicide on Friday night.

Chhattisgarh has reported at least 50 suicidal deaths of security personnel, including both police and paramilitary forces, over the past two years. (HT Archives. Representative image)

The constable was posted at Manpur police station in the district.

“Constable Mukesh Manhar (30) had an argument with his wife, which reportedly led him to open fire on her with his service rifle. He shot himself and died by suicide after his wife expired,” said Jitendra Shukla, superintendent of police (SP) Rajnanadgaon.

Manhar was a resident of Janjgir-Champa district and was posted in Manpur a few months ago, the SP said.

“The bodies have been sent for post-mortem investigation and a further investigation is on,” the SP added.

Chhattisgarh has reported at least 50 suicidal deaths of security personnel, including both police and paramilitary forces, over the past two years. The seven districts Maoist-hit Bastar division has recorded 18 of those suicidal deaths.

In February, the state government disclosed the figures, which showed 22 and 26 personnel had died by suicide in 2018 and 2019, respectively. While two jawans had died by suicide till February.

The state government has recently launched the “Spandan Campaign” in its bid to lessen incidents of suicides and fratricides among the stressed law enforcement employees, especially those deployed in the Maoist-hit Bastar region.

“The primary reasons behind suicide among the state’s police personnel are depression, difficulty in getting their leaves sanctioned, and homesickness. Our records show that over 50% of these suicides occurred due to personal or family reasons, illness (11%), work-related dispute (8%), and other reasons (13%),” said an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.

Last December, six Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel died at their camp in Narayanpur district because of fratricidal killings.

While a similar incident claimed two Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) jawans’ lives at their camp in Mingahcal village of Bijapur district on June 19, 2019.