Probe Ordered Into Suicide Attempt By Naib-tehsildar

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Probe ordered into suicide attempt by naib-tehsildar

Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Patiala, January 1

Shock after shock in her already shattered life, no salary for over 15 years and alleged indifference of her superiors has forced 50-year-old 1984 anti-Sikh riot-hit widow Jaspal Kaur to attempt suicide.

Moved by the plight of Jaspal, naib-tehsildar (agrarian) having charge of Ludhiana and Sangrur districts, Patiala Divisional Commissioner Jasbir Singh Bir has ordered a probe into the circumstances that forced her to attempt suicide. At the same time, the Commissioner has directed the Rajindra Hospital administration to ensure treatment of Jaspal till her recovery. Bir called on her and assured that she would get justice.

While most of Patialvis were busy preparing themselves for the New Year bash, Jaspal consumed some poisonous substance after paying obeisance at the local Dukhniwaran Gurdwara yesterday. She was immediately taken to the hospital.

The suicide note of Jaspal, whose husband had reportedly been killed in the 1984 riots, said: “I got the government job 17 years ago. I got salary regularly only during the first 11 months of my service. After this, my salary was not released for years together. I have been forced to beg money from friends and relatives time and again. My children were forced to remain un-educated for want of money. At times, I had even no money for fetching medicines for myself and for my children, not even when my son had got injured in a fire accident.

“I was not only humiliated, I approached my superiors in Ludhiana whenever, I approached them for release of my salary but, efforts was also to exploit me physically by middle-level government officials. Whenever I resisted their nefarious designs, they marked me absent, further complicating my professional life,” laments Jaspal in her suicide note.

Inquiries revealed that former Commissioner of Patiala Division SK Ahluwalia had conducted a probe into the non-release of salary to Jaspal. Her salary had been released, but not without the intervention of the Chief Minister’s office. Sources close to her family revealed that her son had also left her recently. “I am left with no courage to fight against odds any further,” said a sobbing Jaspal.