Man who tested COVID-19 positive commits suicide in south Delhi hospital

A 63-year-old man, who had tested positive for COVID-19, allegedly committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan in south Delhi's Batra Hospital, police said on Monday.

The deceased, a retired class-IV employee of the Delhi Jal Board, was a resident of Meethapur in Harijan Colony and lived with his wife and family, they said.

According to the police, the man was admitted at the Batra Hospital on May 20 for dialysis as he was a kidney patient.

Later, he also tested positive for COVID-19 and was undergoing treatment.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said the man was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room at around 4 pm on Sunday.

No suicide note has been recovered, he said, adding that inquest proceedings are underway.

Police suspect that he committed suicide due to his health-related ailments.

He had been visiting the hospital for the last 10-12 years for treatment, the police said.

Medical Director of Batra Hospital Dr SCL Gupta termed it an unfortunate incident and said a precious life has been lost.

The patient was suffering from chronic kidney disease and undergoing treatment at another hospital. On May 19, he complained of fever and was tested for coronavirus.

He got admitted in our hospital on May 20. Since he was also a kidney patient, he was undergoing dialysis here, Gupta said.

The kidney patients are usually more susceptible to the virus because they have low immunity. At around 3 pm, the nurse went to give him food and later when, she went to check on him, he was found hanging from the ceiling fan, he said.

She immediately alerted the hospital staff and the deceased was brought down but he was unfortunately dead, he said.

He was admitted in the coronavirus ward since May 20 and during the course of treatment, never did he make any complaints to any of the staff here, he added.