Another BLO died by suicide in West Bengal; family alleges depression triggered by SIR workload
KOLKATA: Another Booth Level Officer (BLO), who was a headmaster by profession, died by suicide in the Ranibandh assembly area of Purulia district in West Bengal on Sunday. Family members of the deceased alleged that he was suffering from depression triggered by work pressure and strain due to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. A suicide note has also been recovered by police from the spot where he hanged himself. With this incident, six BLOs who could not bear the SIR exercise-related workload and stress in Bengal died so far since the drive was launched in the state on 4 November. The body has been sent to the morgue at the state-run Bankura Sammilani Medical College Hospital for postmortem. Police investigating the incident said that the BLO Haradhan Mondal, who was the headmaster of the state government-sponsored Rajakata Majherpara Primary School in the Ranibandh area, hanged himself to death. His body was found hanging from the ceiling fan of a classroom in his school. The Election Commission of India (ECI) had engaged him as a BLO for booth number 206 under the Ranibandh assembly. According to his family sources, several voters of the booth were summoned by the national poll body to appear before a hearing today because they do not have any links with the enumeration forms of the last SIR process held in 2002 in the state. He left his home around 10 am but didnt come back. Members of his family tried to contact him on his phone, but it kept ringing. They became anxious and rushed to his school and found him hanging from the ceiling of a classroom. The Bengali handwritten suicide note recovered by police stated, I cant bear the work pressure. Goodbye. He didnt, according to the note, make anybody responsible for his death. My father died by suicide because the SIR-related workload was unbearable to him. No proper training was given to him by the Commission, said Soham Mondal, son of the deceased BLO. Police sources said that the investigating officials would verify the contents of the suicide note, whether it was written by the BLO himself or some other person. Sources also said that the officials would also explore whether he was suffering from depression caused by the SIR-related stress and work pressure or some other external reasons. (If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050, Tele Manas - 14416 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)
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