In the early hours of May 20, following a hard day’s work, a sanitation worker at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was found hanging from a tree near the campus’ Paschimabad building.
The deceased, identified as Vijay, had just got off work at 12 in the afternoon. He had reported to work at his usual time — 6:30 in the morning. His mood remained jovial throughout the duration of his work, the deceased’s colleagues say. They did not notice anything amiss.
“He had just taken a break and promised that we would have lunch together upon his return. It is just a custom that we have followed since we started working here — having lunch together. However, that promised lunch never materialised,” said Ravi, 31, another sanitation worker at the university.
A passbook and a wallet were the only belongings found to be in his possession; nothing else that could indicate the cause of his death, which remained a mystery for some time. Vijay was declared to have died of suicide. However, investigations remain underway as the family has been informed that the post mortem report will be sent to them within 20 days.
Vijay’s family remembers him as a jovial person who would always choose to share his joy over sorrows. However, financial burden, coupled with the fact that there was no other earning member in the family, pushed him over the edge, his family members say.
“He was a fun-loving man who would not let anyone be affected by any kind of sorrow. But it was no secret that the family was going through some issues, even if he denied it. The previous contractor had yet to send him the money that was due for the last three months. Moreover, his son had also been unemployed for almost half a year. This had affected him a lot,” said Narender Singh, 32, Vijay’s brother-in-law.
Vijay, a Dalit, shifted to the national capital from Uttar Pradesh to escape caste atrocities and seek better job opportunities. He had been working at the university for the past 15 years.
According to Singh, Vijay had taken multiple loans from several persons around his residence to keep his household afloat since there was no money incoming from his employers. He added that it had become increasingly difficult for Vijay to repay the loans. “His only son was without a job and no one else in the family was earning then”.
Vijay’s son, Sagar, is enlisted as a lab assistant at JNU. Apart from him, Vijay is survived by two daughters and a wife.
“He never let us know that he had issues in running his household, but I could notice something amiss when I saw my mother take up odd jobs,” he said.
In a report in April, Patriot had revealed that contractual workers at JNU were not being paid on time after a change in the contractors at the start of the financial year. Additionally, it was also found that a company called MS Vigilant Security Placement & Detective Service had also extorted money from the workers in exchange for their jobs.
These factors, according to Vijay’s family, may have had a role to play in him being pushed past the breaking point.
JNU Registrar Professor Ravikesh said, “The university is deeply saddened by the loss of one of the outsourced staff yesterday (May 20) and extends heartfelt condolences to his family members. In light of this tragedy, the university is committed to providing support to the family during this difficult time. The salary of the deceased employee was being paid by the vendor concerned regularly.”
