An officer of the Papum Pare District Disaster Management Department in Arunachal Pradesh was found dead at her residence in State capital Itanagar on Friday night. The COVID-19 pandemic-related work stress is believed to have been the cause of the death of 38-year-old Tsering Youngzam.
The police said a case of unnatural death was lodged at the Itanagar police station after her body was recovered from the bathroom of her residence. Tumme Amo, The Superintendent of Police of Capital Complex said Ms. Youngzam had asked her driver to come late on Saturday as she had been too exhausted because of COVID-19 duties.
Capital Complex comprises Itanagar and twin city Naharlagun about 13 km away.
“Her husband stays in West Kameng district and the fear of infection had made her maintain distance from her son, who made other members of the family search for his mother when he did not see her after waking up in the morning,” he said.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer Kamdam Sikom said members of Ms. Youngzam’s family had stated that she was planning to quit her job. “According to the statement, she was stressed due to the workload.”
A daily-wager identified as Gopal Barman was also found dead in a jungle near village Ambari Kochpara in western Assam’s Goalpara district on Friday night. His death was reported to have been due to lockdown-related food scarcity.
District officials claimed people in the village where the man lived had been given free rice and other food items two-three days ago.