Vikhroli teacher hospitalised after suicide attempt over election duty stress
A school teacher from Vikhroli was admitted to a hospital on Monday after allegedly attempting suicide by consuming sleeping pills, citing extreme stress and exhaustion from Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral roll duty in Ghatkopar. The teacher, whose condition has been reported as stable, told the local police that the additional workload and constant phone calls from citizens pushed her to take the step.
In her statement given to the Vikhroli police, the teacher explained that she had been working on the SIR electoral roll duty in Ghatkopar until late on Sunday night. She noted that she was completely exhausted after spending the day answering numerous phone calls from citizens regarding the election duty.
The situation escalated on Monday morning when the school principal shared a screenshot of a social media post with her. The post, written by a former student, questioned why teachers were being assigned non-teaching duties while the education of students was suffering. The teacher stated that reading this message caused her severe mental stress.
After arriving at the school on Monday, the teacher allegedly consumed seven sleeping tablets. She discussed the ongoing situation with the school principal, students, and parents before she eventually lost consciousness. Her colleagues immediately rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she is currently receiving medical treatment.
The incident has sparked strong reactions from local teacher organisations. Jalindar Sarode, the working president of the Shikshak Sena, called the event unfortunate and urged the government to take immediate measures to reduce the workload on educators, particularly women teachers.
Subhash More, the working president of Shikshak Bharati, claimed that the teacher had previously requested to be relieved from Booth Level Officer (BLO) and SIR duties due to personal difficulties. According to More, the union had sent written requests to both the municipal education officer and the tehsildar’s office, but no action was taken. More has demanded that the government excuse teachers and non-teaching staff from these duties.
