Ludhiana saw suicide a day during lockdown

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 2

Tejas Taneja, 27, of Haibowal had a promising future ahead of him with a decent private job and a mushrooming marble stone business of his father.

The Covid-induced lockdown, however, rocked his boat hard. The business was affected, so was his job. Unable to put up with money lenders who kept knocking at their door at odd hours, he ended his life early July.

The case of young Tejas is not an aberration. As many as 120 persons have ended their lives from April 1 to July 31, an average of one suicide per day, in the city owing to the impact of lockdown. In contrast, during the pre-lockdown period, 61 suicides were reported between January 1 and March 31, i.e. one suicide every alternate day.

A majority of suicides during the lockdown period was because of financial crunch due to job/business loss, marital/property dispute and depression, say senior police officials.

Police Commissioner Rakesh Agrawal says there has been a rise in cases of depression during the lockdown period. “But post-lockdown, the suicide rate has fallen. It was less than 20 cases in July.”

Police officials say the number of suicide cases has definitely been higher during the lockdown period. “Financial trouble remains an underlying factor in a majority of cases where marital or property dispute seems to be the initial cause,” says an official.

Police records suggest the next of kin in their statement to the police have cited financial loss as the main reason for suicide. On July 2, factory worker Sukhwinder Singh, 32, of Basant Nagar committed suicide after his wife left him due to his poor financial state. She was seeking divorce.

Box

Period Months No. of Suicides

Pre-lockdown Jan 1-March 31 61

Lockdown April 1-July 31 120

Bq

Seek help: Police

“Our helpline numbers ‘1091’ and 78370-18555 can be reached by anyone experiencing signs of depression. We will arrange a counselling session for them”

— Rakesh Agrawal, Police Commissioner, Ludhiana