Spate of deaths due to suicides in recent days shakes Gurugram

Gurugram: On June 20, Saturday Gurugram reported three deaths due to suicides. All the three people who died were less than the age of 50 and were working professionals. All three died by hanging themselves

Out of the three two of the deceased had come to Gurugram from other states for better professional opportunities. In the first case a 45-year-old person from Seemandhra identified as Pradha Sardhi took his own life at Sector-31. Residing with his wife in Chakkarpur, the deceased was working in a company in Sector-32 and was feeling anxious about his job prospects.

Job anxieties and insecurities are also considered to be the main cause of death of 35-year-old Subash Chandra who had come from Bihar to work in Gurugram. He had recently got a job in a garment export factory in the city and had not even gone back to his hometown when the industrial units had been closed down due to lockdown, He hung himself in a rented room in Udyog Vihar.

For 25-year-old Lavesh Goyal who was involved in the family business, the cause of death was not work-related issues but marital discord. Having married young Lavesh was not getting on well with his wife. There are allegations that he has been threatened by the wife's relatives that led him to take the extreme step.

In a worrying trend the three suicides that were reported on Saturday is not an aberration. Last week in addition to these three suicides there were two more suicides more reported. In one incident a senior manager from Hyderabad jumped from the balcony of his rented apartment after he came to know that his wife got infected with COVID-19. Just a day after this incident a 46-year-old advocate identified as Umesh Verma took his own life within the District premises by allegedly consuming a poisonous substance.

According to law enforcement officials, the deceased was mentally disturbed due to the property dispute that had extended for more than 15 years.

The economic and the social challenges posed by the rapid spread of COVID-19 has resulted in various cases in the previous months where people have not wavered to take away their own lives. There have only been four reported incidents where people or their relatives killed themselves due to the stigma attached to contracting the infection of COVID-19. On May 17 a 28 -year-old unemployed engineer died after choking himself with carbon monoxide in his car.

The deceased identified as Arpit Kumar Khandelwal of Rajasthan carried a carbon monoxide cylinder with him and locked himself in his car, letting the gas loose. He had sent a mail to his cousin informing that his car was parked in Sector- 29 and that he was taking his own life. In addition to this there have been also death s due to suicide of six migrant labourers reported from Gurugram as they were facing acute shortage of financial resources and did not have the wherewithal to either go back to their hometowns or take care of their family.