Sarvesh Kumar, 46, asserts that he had failed to complete the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) work, seeking the forgiveness of his family
NEW DELHI — Sarvesh Kumar, the 46-year-old Booth Level Officer (BLO) in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad District, took his own life on Saturday, leaving behind four young daughters. In a heart-wrenching video that surfaced on Sunday, Kumar apologised to his family, requesting his mother and sister to care for his children. “Meri chhoti chhoti 4 betiyan hain” (I have four small daughters), he said, his voice shaking with emotion.
Sarvesh, an assistant teacher, was assigned his first BLO duty for the voter roll revision on October 7. His family and colleagues are shocked by his death by suicide, highlighting the immense pressure of electoral work.
The video has surfaced on social media and is widely being shared as his last video.
In the purported video, Sarvesh Kumar asserted that he had failed to complete the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) work, seeking the forgiveness of his family for what he called “going far from their world”.
The body of Sarvesh, posted in a school in Bhagatpur Tanda village, was found inside his house. The police had said that he had hanged himself in the storage room of his home here in Baheri village because of work pressure.
Providing details about the incident, the police said that around 4 am, Sarvesh’s wife, Babli, found her husband’s body hanging.
A suicide note was recovered from the site, in which Sarvesh confessed to feeling suffocated and said there was not enough time for the job he had been given.
Circle Officer (Thakurdwara) Ashish Pratap Singh said, “BLO Sarvesh Singh committed suicide and has left behind a suicide note stating that he was unable to cope with the burden of BLO duty. His body has been sent for post-mortem”.
Under phase II, the SIR of electoral rolls is underway in several states, including Uttar Pradesh. Since its commencement, the behemoth exercise seems to have taken a toll on many government workers, who are roped in to weed out perceived inaccuracies and prepare voter lists with only genuine voters.
The cases of deaths and suicides related to work pressure have cropped up across states, including in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, among others.
