At least one police personnel commits suicide every month in Delhi as per an RTI reply.
The RTI, filed by activist Aniket Gaurav, has revealed that more than 43 police personnel posted in various police assignments have committed suicide since 2012 in the national capital.
The data further reveals that while the most cases were reported from those posted in the PCR unit of the Delhi police, the second highest suicides were reported from security unit of the enforcement agency.
Psychologists said that high stress levels and the nature of the job are some of the reasons which force the policemen to take such harsh steps. “Stress has been the biggest issue when it comes to police personnel. Firstly, the working hours are highly erratic. Secondly, these police personnel have to be highly aggressive given the nature of the job. They have to be assertive during investigation and questioning of suspects, this really burns them out,” said Dr Pulkit Sharma, clinical psychologist.
Dr Sharma added that in most of the workshops conducted with police personnel, the lack of job satisfaction and the negative approach with which people approach them is also a major factor which concerns them. “Given the current scenario, people don’t approach the police with a positive approach, rather they are seen with negativity or as corrupt, even though that is not the case. This results in them feeling helpless, whereby resulting in them taking such a harsh step,” said Dr Sharma. The Delhi police officials said that while they have been trying to address the issue of high levels of stress among police officials, especially junior rank personnel, counselling sessions are organised for policemen. Senior police officers believed that more should be done to improve both the economic and professional conditions of subordinate officers.
“It’s unfortunate but most of the policemen committed suicide due to personal reasons. We strictly follow eight hours shift rule incase of personnel deployed in PCRs and security wings. Policemen can approach to his or her senior officers for any kind of assistance or can discuss their issues. Recently we have taken several initiatives to de-stress our men from work pressure. We keep organising counselling sessions for policemen,” said Taj Hassan, special commissioner of police.
