Telangana official hangs self over fear of contracting corona

Hyderabad, July 24 (IANS) In yet another suicide over suspicion of contracting Covid-19, a government official in Telangana hanged himself.

M. Raja Venkatramna (54), working as a superintendent in the education department, resorted to the extreme in Karimnagar town on Thursday night. He was found hanging in his flat in Christian Colony.

According to police, Venkatramna was serving in the education department office in Mancherial and was staying with the family in the same town. For the last few days he was suffering with cold and fever and had consulted a doctor at a private hospital. The doctor had suggested him to undergo COVID-19 test.

After attending the office on Thursday, Venkatramna did not return home and instead left for Karimnagar, where he went to his flat and hanged self.

When Venkatramna did not return home and was not responding to the calls on his mobile phone, his family got worried and contacted the relatives in Karimnagar to check if he reached there. They went to the flat to find him hanging.

This is the latest in a series of incidents in which people have committed suicide either after testing positive or for the fear of contracting the virus.

Only two days ago a 50-year-old man, who had tested positive, hanged himself in Mahbubabad district.

An employee in a chemical company in Hyderabad, he had come to his native village on Tuesday to finish his quarantine period after testing positive for Covid-19.

On July 12, a call centre employee committed suicide in his house in Hyderabad’s Santoshnagar, suspecting that he had contracted coronavirus.

The 38-year-old was unwell and had visited a few clinics for medical check-up. He hanged himself after a doctor suggested him to undergo the COVID test.

On July 5, a goldsmith in Hyderabad committed suicide fearing that he was suffering with COVID-19. The 34-year-old who was suffering with cold and fever jumped into the Hussain Sagar lake in the city.

On May 2, a man committed suicide by jumping off the fourth floor of his apartment in Hyderabad fearing that he had contracted COVID-19.

A retired private employee was suffering with asthma and gastritis and had slipped into depression, suspecting that he might be suffering with coronavirus.

In March, a man in Suryapet district had immolated himself over suspicion of catching the virus.

–IANS

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