AP: Third suicide reported in Sriharikota's SDSC in past week

A third suicide has been reported from Sriharikota on Wednesday after two people from the CISF died with less than 24 hours difference between the two deaths.

Sriharikota(AP): The trail of suicides in Sriharikota over the past few days got a third death added to the list with another woman's death by suicide on Wednesday. All three deaths have been reported from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), a rocket launch center operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The deceased woman is identified as Priya (27), the wife of CISF Sub Inspector Vikas Singh who was found dead a day ago on Tuesday. He had died of a bullet injury, while the police had declared it a case of suicide based on a preliminary investigation.

As informed by the probing officials, Singh was found dead at his residence here on Tuesday. The CISF staff living in the vicinity had immediately informed his wife about the death. The woman, who lives in Uttar Pradesh, had arrived in Sriharikota with her three children and younger brother on Tuesday evening. She was clearly devastated by her husband's sudden death, the police officials said.

Priya was interrogated by the police about the possible reason for her husband's suicide. She was then lodged at the Narmada guest house on the premises of SDSC with her family. The next day, on Wednesday morning, she was also found dead at the guest house.

Vikas and Priya are survived by a son and two daughters. Both their bodies have been sent to the Sullurpet General Hospital for post-mortem by the authorities. The police speculate that the woman took the extreme step as she could not bear the death of her husband.

Meanwhile, the investigation also revealed that Vikas was subjected to disciplinary action while he was working at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center(BARC) in Mumbai before he got transferred to Sriharikota in November last year. A 2015 pass-out, he had been working for BARC for seven years before he got transferred here.

The first death in the area was reported on Sunday, wherein another CISF constable identified as Chintamani (29), from Sankara village in Chhattisgarh had killed himself. He was selected as a CISF constable in 2021 and joined the unit in Sriharikota after training.