83 cops died in Tamil Nadu since April, 15 killed themselves

Chennai: If you thought policemen in Tamil Nadu with their handle bar moustaches and piercing look are the boldest among us, think again. Since April this year, 15 of them have committed suicide while another 20 died after heart attacks.

A total of 83 police personnel died between April and August in Tamil Nadu. Of the 83 deaths, 15 were cases of suicide while 29 were killed in road accidents and another 20 died after heart attacks. The sad state of health of police personnel— be it mental and physical, was revealed in the statistics prepared by a member of police constabulary.

In the same period, five police personnel died of jaundice, another five died of cancer, one policeman died of kidney failure and six others died of various other illnesses. During the same time, 5 other police personnel had attempted to commit suicide.

A policeman made the background details of the deaths of people in the police department available to this newspaper with their background in an 89-page report.

Senior police officials in the state police are aware of the alarming trend happening in the department and they say they are looking at it seriously.

“If the district and city police officials notice emotional troubles with any police personnel counselling sessions will be conducted for them,” said a senior official.

“We have already noticed the trend. And we are in the process of creating more facilities for counselling,” said a senior official, when this news-paper drew his attention to the deaths of police personnel in the state.

Policemen in the lower rank, however, point out that ‘non-stop duty time’ is one of the causes of police personnel to end their lives.

“We don’t get much time to be with families. A good number of us live away from the family. The duty hours don’t allow us to have a healthy diet or healthy lifestyle. Not everybody can withstand the stress,” a head constable, who doesn’t want to be named, told this newspaper.