THOOTHUKUDI
In a very special and touching moment, the family members of Head Constable Selvamurugan received a cheque for ₹ 14.09 lakh, which was raised by the 1999 batchmates, from the Superintendent of Police S Jeyakumar here on Sunday.
After the policeman Selvamurugan died in Tiruchendur police station on October 1 by suicide, his family members were in a state of shock. He had left behind his wife and two little sons.
As the news about the plight of the family was shared among some of the policemen in the district, the men in khaki decided to form a WhatsApp group of all the 1999 batch policemen across the State. A team of five to seven batchmates started gathering the details of their batchmates and their present serving location and appealed to them to contribute for the welfare of the family. Though the government and the police department had given the mandatory benefits, the policemen decided to extend a helping hand in their personal capacity, a batchmate said.
In less than a month, the liberal contribution of the batchmates netted ₹ 14.09 lakh.
On Sunday, the policemen had invited the family members to the District Police Office, where Mr. Jeyakumar presented the cheque.
The SP said that the police who worked tirelessly, had shown unity at the time of crisis in one of their batchmate's family and lauded the initiative. He also commended the efforts of Sabarinathan, Pitchiah, Damodaran, Saravana Selvan, Senthil Arumugam, Balakrishnan and Vallinayagam for being behind the fund raising initiative.
The family members of Selvamurugan thanked the police friends.
Those with suicidal tendencies may contact the toll number at 104 or Sneha suicide prevention centre at 044-24640050.