MCD worker hangs self after testing positive for Covid-19
Ghaziabad, June 24 (IANS) An MCD worker has allegedly committed suicide a day after testing positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. The police found his body hanging from a ceiling fan by a plastic rope in the bedroom of his residence. No suicide note was recovered from the spot, the police said.
The deceased is a 45-year-old man and a resident of the Panchvati Colony situated at Loni Border. He had tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. The man was employed with the sanitation department of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation.
The family members informed that he was asymptomatic and was receiving treatment at home. The alleged suicide happened in the room where he was kept under isolation. The youngest son of the deceased was the first person to witness the incident at around 6 a.m.
“I was calling papa to check on him. The morning tea was being prepared, and I wanted to ask whether he wanted to have it. The door of the room was locked from inside, but it has one more entry from the backyard of our house. When he did not open the door, I got into the room from the second entry and saw his body hanging from the fan,” the 24-year-old son of the deceased said.
The son also said that he immediately informed the police, but they reached the spot six hours later.
“The police and a doctor reached our house after 12 p.m. Initially, the police demanded the Covid test report of my father. They said that they would have to arrange a doctor since my father had tested positive for Covid-19. I had to arrange the test report from the hospital where he was tested. I sent the report to the police on WhatsApp,” he said.
The police and the doctor did not touch the body, the son alleged. “My two elder brothers and I put down the body after cutting the plastic rope tied around his neck. The doctor gave us PPE suits that we donned and carried his body to an ambulance which arrived at our house,” the son said.
Gyanendra Bodh, SHO, Loni Border Police Station, said that it was done as per protocol. “We are not allowed to deal with Covid positive patients directly.”
When asked why the doctor who was present on the spot did not help the family members, he said that he was not aware of it. “I was not at the spot. I will ask my team which went there,” he added.
Meanwhile, the police have requested the Ghaziabad health department to take the family members to a quarantine facility. The deceased is survived by his wife, mother, three sons, and two daughters.
–IANS
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