TIRUPATTUR: The chief medical officer (CMO) of Vaniyambadi Government Hospital, Dr S Sivasubrahmaniam, who died by suicide on February 4 (Wednesday), had incidentally joined Natrampalli GH the same day, after receiving a transfer order to the hospital as medical officer.
Confirming the same, V Gnana Meenakshi, joint director of health services Tirupattur, told TNIE that Sivasubrahmaniam himself had requested for a transfer to Natrampalli GH. Meanwhile, on Thursday morning, Sivasubrahmaniam body was sent to Adukkamparai GH, Vellore, for postmortem, following which his body was sent to his hometown in Tiruchy.
The 53-year-old paediatric doctor died by suicide around 7pm on Wednesday at his under-construction house, situated near his current residence on the Vaniyambadi Bypass Road.
According to local sources, the doctor returned from Natrampalli GH, after which he left his cell phone at home and went out. Later, when his wife could not reach him, she reportedly checked at his private clinic, where he offered consultations in the evening, but he was not there.
Sources said it was his staff at the clinic who then found him at the under-construction building. He was taken to a private hospital, where he was declared dead.
Sivasubrahmaniam worked as a paediatrician at the Vaniyambadi GH for over 20 years. For the past five years, he was serving as the CMO. A local shopkeeper near Vaniyambadi GH said that he was a good person and helped poor people, who came to his clinic, get free treatment by referring them to the GH. “Several people (mainly his patients) came to the hospital late into the night yesterday (Wednesday) to see him one last time,” he added.
An officer from Vaniyambadi Town Station said a case has been registered for unnatural death.
(Assistance for those having suicidal thoughts is available on TN’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)