85-year-old Corona patient commits suicide at Hamidia

Bhopal: An 85-year-old Covid-19 patient allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in the washroom at Hamidia hospital on Tuesday afternoon. When he did not come out of the washroom for long, the ward attendant broke open the door and found him lying unconscious. He was rushed and kept on a ventilator but could not be saved.

He was admitted at the hospital around a week back and was having trouble breathing. His SpO2 level (Oxygen level) was around 73-75. Koh-e-Fiza police reached the spot on getting information and registered a case.

SHO Koh-e-Fiza Anil Bajpai said that deceased Ganpat Singh Balodia, 85, a resident of Shajapur, was admitted to Hamidia hospital on May 5 after he was diagnosed with Coronavirus. His grandson Anil is posted in police headquarters, Bhopal. Balodia was undergoing treatment in the Covid-19 ward of Hamidia hospital.

SHO Bajpai said that Balodia was having trouble breathing and his blood oxygen level was around 73-75. He went into the washroom around 11.30am and hanged himself with his towel by tying it to the hanging rod inside the washroom. When he did not come out after around 20-25 minutes, the ward attendant, who was instructed to keep an eye on patients using the washroom by hospital management, started knocking on the door. When Balodia did not respond, the attendant broke open the washroom door and found him lying unconscious. He called the doctors and they rushed him on the ventilators but Balodia couldn’t be saved. Subsequently, Koh-e-Fiza police were informed and a case was registered.

Notably, this is second suicide at Covid-19 ward in Hamidia hospital in past two days. Earlier on Monday, a 50-year-old Sehore-based carpenter allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the window of Covid-19 ward on the fifth floor of the hospital’s D-Block.

Merely a week back, homoeopathy doctor Devendra Malviya, a resident of Awadhpuri, allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the fifth floor of a private hospital in Khajuri area. Before that, a 60-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the second floor of a government hospital in Bag Sewania locality on October 20, 2020.