Fear of Covid: Man commits suicide by drowning in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 54–year–old government servant is feared dead after he allegedly jumped into Karamana river at Kundamanbhagam near the city on Sunday morning. A letter recovered from his bedroom, which is assumed to be written by him, said that the mental pressure of possibility of being a carrier of novel coronavirus that could have endangered the health of his colleagues was the reason for his act. The rescue workers are yet to recover his body.
Krishnakumar of Sivakripa House, Kundamanbhagam just outside the city is the deceased. He is a health inspector attached to the directorate of health services in the city.
The local police at Vilappilsala station said that they have launched a search after registering a case of missing person. His family approached the police on Sunday around 9 am after he went missing. They also handed over the note he had reportedly left behind.
"His house is located hardly 500 meters away from the Karamana river. Hence our first instinct was to rush to the river and found his footwear there. Following this, the scuba diving team of the fire and rescue services was summoned for carrying out search’', said a police officer attached to Vilappilsala police station. But, despite the search that lasted till evening, the body could not be found. The persisting heavy rain too made the search operations difficult.
Krishnakumar was reportedly under home quarantine for the past two days after the father of one of his colleagues tested positive for Covid19. He went under quarantine as he was in the secondary contact list, the police said.
Priya S Nair is his wife. He has two sons, Gokul and Govind.