A Booth Level Officer and primary school teacher, Hamimul Islam (47), was found hanging inside a school in Murshidabad district; police have launched an investigation and sent the body for post-mortem.
The family alleged that intense work pressure from Special Intensive Revision (SIR) duties, along with his teaching responsibilities, caused severe stress leading to his death.
A Trinamool Congress MLA blamed the rushed SIR process and excessive workload on BLOs, while police said all aspects of the case are being examined.
A Booth Level Officer (BLO) was found hanging inside a primary school in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, with his family alleging that excessive work pressure related to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) duties drove him to take his own life, police said on Sunday.
The deceased has been identified as Hamimul Islam (47), a primary school teacher at Paikmari Char Krishnapur Boys Primary School. He was also serving as a BLO for a booth in Purba Alaipur village under the Kharibona gram panchayat area.
According to police, the incident came to light late on Saturday night when local residents noticed something amiss at the school premises in the Paikmari Char area under Ranitala police station limits. Hamimul had reportedly left home on Saturday morning to attend school but did not return in the afternoon.
After an extended search, his family members found his body hanging inside a room on the school premises. Police subsequently recovered the body and sent it for post-mortem examination. An investigation has been initiated to ascertain the circumstances leading to his death.
Family members alleged that Hamimul was under severe mental stress due to the workload arising from his dual responsibilities as a teacher and a BLO. They claimed that pressure to complete SIR-related tasks had increased significantly in recent weeks.
Hamimul’s elder brother, Farman-ul-Kalam, alleged that the workload related to SIR duties was beyond his brother’s capacity to manage.
Bhagabangola Trinamool Congress MLA Riyaz Hossain Sarkar visited the bereaved family and alleged that the Election Commission was rushing the SIR process, resulting in excessive workload on BLOs. He claimed that Hamimul had been assigned extensive tasks, including mapping and unmapping work.
Police said all aspects of the case are being examined and further action will be taken based on the findings of the investigation.
- With inputs from PTI.
