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Bullying one of reasons for fratricide: Home ministry

By, New Delhi
Apr 19, 2023 05:01 AM IST

The most recent incident, a result of harassment and bullying by colleagues, was reported from Bathinda, Punjab.

Bullying and harassment are among reasons why soldiers commit suicide or kill fellow troopers, a task force of the Union home ministry has found, according to officials aware of the matter.

Four soldiers were shot dead by a colleague at Bathinda military station in the early hours of April 12. (PTI)
Four soldiers were shot dead by a colleague at Bathinda military station in the early hours of April 12. (PTI)

The panel during its probe over the past one year found at least two cases of bullying and harassment that led to killings. One of the incidents took place at a Central Reserve Police Force camp in Chhattisgarh in November 2021 when four people were killed by a jawan. The other was at the Border Security Force camp in Punjab in March 2022.

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The home ministry had informed Parliament last month that the report was being prepared.

The most recent incident, a result of harassment and bullying by colleagues, was reported from Bathinda, Punjab. An army soldier was arrested on Monday for the murder of four people at the Bathinda military station in the early hours of April 12.

Also Read | Bathinda military station firing: Witness jawan arrested for killing four soldiers

To be sure, the task force committee report is only for the paramilitary forces such as the CRPF, BSF, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Sashastra Seema Bal, Assam Rifles, and Central Industrial Security Force.

“As part of the process to identify the causes for fratricide in forces, we looked at past cases and interviewed the personnel. Bullying and harassment had emerged as one of the reasons why jawans take their lives. The harassment could be by colleagues and not necessarily seniors,” said an official aware of the probe report who declined to be named.

By fratricide, the report meant the killing of colleagues or friendly troopers.

“Coupled to this, another reason we identified was the lack of support by family members. The jawan who is already under stress feels there is no one to look up to him and ends his life or commits homicide,” he added.

Also Read | Bathinda firing incident: What happened and what is fratricide?

The report has stressed the importance of the family support to bring down the cases, the official said.

Last month, the home ministry told Parliament that there were 29 cases of fratricide across the seven paramilitary forces between 2018 and 2022, but ruled out any increasing trend. Most of the cases were reported in 2021 (nine), followed by seven in 2020, According to official data presented in the Lok Sabha on March 28,

Of these, 15 cases were reported from the CRPF, nine from the BSF and two from the CISF. One incident each was reported from the ITBP, Assam Rifles and the SSB.

Between 2018 and 2022, the six paramilitary forces along with National Security Guard, reported 436 suicides. Listing out reasons for the cases, junior home minister Nityanand Rai had said: “Causative factors in most incidents were generally personal and domestic problems, family issues, depression and work-related issues.”

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Prawesh Lama covers crime, policing, and issues of security in Delhi. Raised in Darjeeling, educated in Mumbai, he also looks at special features on social welfare in the National Capital.

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