BHOPAL: Failure in love, rocky marriage, prolonged illness and other family issues provoked suicides by police personnel in Madhya Pradesh, a report being finalised at the state police headquarters in Bhopal has revealed.
Against the assumption that most officers committed suicide due to workplace stress and harassment, the investigation into 27 suicides in 2016 and 2017 revealed that family and personal issues triggered 23-24 suicides and workplace-related issues prompted two to three deaths.
Out of the 27 policemen who killed themselves in 2016 and 2017, 13 were Constables, seven Head Constables, four Assistant Sub-inspectors, two Sub-inspectors and a Deputy Superintendent of Police-ranked Sub-divisional Officer of Police.
Of these, five had completed just five years of service; seven had completed six to 20 years, while 15 had over 20 years of service. Madhya Pradesh Police has a strength of over one lakh.
Four of the five who had completed five years of service killed themselves over failure in love or rocky marriages. A woman SI posted in Gwalior, who killed herself on October 17, 2017, did so as she was unable to convince her husband to live with her. She had just completed 14 months in police service.
Three Constables posted in Neemuch, Balaghat and Rewa respectively, committed suicide due to failure of love.
A Constable posted in Gwalior, who had completed over 22 years in service, committed suicide in April 2016 over a rape case filed against him in 2008 by a woman suspected to be an ex-girlfriend.
A constable posted in the 35th Battalion of the Special Armed Force in Mandla district committed suicide after a surgery rendered him impotent; 20 other policemen ended lives due to chronic illness, alcoholism and uncertain future of children.
Only three policemen, including a Head Constable posted in Bhind and an Assistant Sub-inspector posted in Ashok Nagar, ended their lives due to workplace stress and harassment.