‘Depressed’ jeweller hangs self in Patna

PATNA: A 57-year-old jewellery shop owner allegedly hanged himself at his Bajaj Gali home in Bakarganj area of the state capital on Thursday.
According to the police, the deceased, Ramanand Prasad, was reportedly depressed as his shop at Bhikhna Pahadi area wasn’t doing well after remaining shut for nearly three months due to the lockdown.
Prasad was found hanging inside his bedroom when the deceased’s 29-year-old son Ashutosh Kumar went to serve him tea in the morning, police said. The man was rushed to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) where doctors at the emergency ward declared him dead.
According to the statement given by his son to the police, Prasad was found hanging from a hook in the ceiling using a towel.
“Kumar’s father used to remain depressed and frustrated due it. Since last one and half weeks, the jeweller had isolated himself from the rest of his family members. He had even stopped interacting with them and probably due to all these reasons he committed suicide,” PMCH police outpost in-charge Amit Kumar said quoting the son’s statement to the police.
“The family members themselves rushed him to the PMCH. The body was handed over to the family members for cremation after conducting post-mortem,” he added.
Since April this year, at least five suicides have taken place in the state capital allegedly due to financial crisis arising out of the lockdown prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Among those who took their lives are a private firm manager Dhananjay Kumar from Rupaspur who had lost his job due to the lockdown, two auto-rickshaw drivers Rajesh Pandey from Khajekala and Pradeep Kumar from Gopalpur and a 55-year-old restaurant employee living at CID colony in Jakkanpur.