Three soldiers, posted in Jammu and Kashmir, committed suicide in separate incidents over the last four days.
Constable Prukha Sukhdev of the 79 Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), posted in the Sonwar area of Srinagar, shot himself with his service rifle inside the camp on Saturday morning, March 10. The jawan died on the spot, added a police officer.
Sepoy Birender Sinha, who was posted at the 30 Rashtriya Rifles of camp at Langate in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district, committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle.
The incident took place on Wednesday morning, March 7, in the Handwara area of Jammu and Kashmir.
A day before, another jawan, shot himself with his service rifle at an Army camp in Warnov area. Thirty-six-year-old Naik Shankar Singh, a resident of Rajasthan, was posted with the 18 Rashtriya Rifles. He died on spot, said police.
The immediate reason behind the suicide in all the three cases is not yet known.
A total of 92 personnel from the three armed forces – the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force – committed suicide in 2017. The army had the highest suicide number, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre told the Lok Sabha, in a written reply last year.
According to the figures, two officers, and 67 Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks (OR) committed suicide in the Indian Army. The number of JCOs and ORs who committed suicide was 100 in 2016, 77 in 2015, and 82 in 2014.
Among the Army officers, there were four suicides in 2016, one in 2015 and two in 2014.
