Noida: Suicide at quarantine centre days after man was thrashed on Tablighi Jamaat suspicion

Abhishek Awasthi | TNN | Updated: Apr 14, 2020, 15:38 IST

GREATER NOIDA: The 25-year-old man who allegedly committed suicide at a quarantine centre in Knowledge Park on Sunday was beaten up by a group of villagers three days ago on the suspicion that he had participated in the Tablighi Jamaat and was, therefore, a Covid carrier. A video was also made of the attack on him and circulated.
His family claimed Mohammed Gulzar was walking through the fields in Ecotech 1 area on April 10 to go to meet his wife and eight-month-old son in Mehndipur village. Gulzar, they said, wasn’t well off and his wife was living with her parents.
Gulzar, who was roaming around in dishevelled clothes after the attack on him, was taken by a police team to the quarantine centre at GIMS, the Covid hospital in Greater Noida. As he ran a temperature and coughed a few times, and there was speculation he might have attended the Tablighi congregation in Delhi, a decision was taken to put him under quarantine.
Sources said Gulzar would anxiously wait for his test reports and even threatened to commit suicide if he did not get to see them soon. On Sunday morning — hours after he had been shifted to the isolation centre at Galgotias University — he threatened to jump off the terrace if his reports were not made available. Around 8pm that day, he allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the seventh floor. His reports came on Monday. Gulzar had tested negative for Covid-19.
Police said villagers at Gharbara had suspected he was part of the Jamaat because he had avoided the main road. “A police team took him to the hospital. The health department took his samples for testing and he was put under quarantine,” said Rajesh Kumar Singh, DCP (zone 3).
Gulzar’s family, however, claimed he had a history of mental illness and had been undergoing treatment at a Delhi clinic. On Monday, Gulzar’s body was handed over to his family. Gulzar’s uncle Zakir said he would file a complaint against those responsible for his death. The Noida administration has ordered a magisterial inquiry to find out why Gulzar was left alone.