Duty stress, academic workload: GMC Patiala MD anaesthesia medico commits suicide

Patiala: In an unfortunate incident, a final year PG anaesthesia medico at Government Medical College (GMC) Patiala allegedly committed suicide by injecting an unidentified harmful substance in her hostel room on Saturday. 

According to the police, the doctor was struggling with depression and was under extreme academic stress over her thesis leading her to take the extreme step of administering something “poisonous” with an injection into her body.

The 29-year-old student from Anna Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu was receiving treatment for stress related to her academic and professional work pressure. As per TOI sources, she was finding it challenging to manage her academic workload and had requested a break to concentrate on finishing her thesis as she was also overwhelmed by her work duties.

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As per HT report, the shocking incident took place on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday when she reached her hostel room after completing her duty as usual. “She had to report to the department in the morning but she didn’t. A few hours later, hostellers and others reached her room which was locked. When the students forced their entry into her room, they found her lying on the bed. She was rushed to the emergency ward of the Government Rajindra Hospital where efforts were made to revive her but she died,” a senior doctor informed HT on condition of anonymity.

When the police were informed of the situation, they rushed to the spot but found no suicide note in connection. They handed over her body to her family members on Sunday after a postmortem was conducted by the authorities at Government Medical College (GMC) Patiala.

The Civil Lines Patiala police station, Station House Officer Amritveer Singh told TOI, "The medical college authorities had revealed that she was already facing stress for which she was also getting medical treatment. No suicide note has been recovered so far. We are recording the statements of the medical college concerned authorities."

Following the incident, police have initiated a probe into the incident to determine the exact circumstances that led to her tragic decision to take her own life.

Acting Principal of GMC Patiala, Dr Ashwani said, "The student had committed suicide and police are investigating the matter. I would not be able to comment on more details."

To mourn the doctor's death, the Junior Resident Doctors of Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital held a candle march at the hospital on Sunday evening expressing their sorrow and frustration over her death. 

In response to the tragic incident, Punjab Medical Education Minister Dr Balbir Singh has formed a committee to investigate the matter and a report will be submitted soon. As quoted by HT, he said “This is a very tragic incident. I have been told that her laptop containing her thesis crashed and she was under stress. She should have taken up this with higher-ups at the college and her issue could have been resolved. I am forming a committee to look into the matter. We are also trying to form a mechanism to address the issues of postgraduation students."

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