A 37-year-old man hanged self to death in Himachal Pradesh's Una district on Sunday morning after allegedly facing "social boycott" by some villagers, who suspected him to be suffering from COVID-19 despite testing negative for it.
Mohammad Dilshad committed suicide under a shed at his residence in Una's Bangarh village, a day after health officials dropped him at his village following his negative report, an official said.
He was taken to a quarantine facility a few days ago where he tested negative for the disease.
Una Sadar SHO Darshan Singh said Dilshad was one of the contacts of a Tablighi Jamaat member who had returned from New Delhi's Nizamuddin.
Commenting on it, DGP Sita Ram Mardi said, "Some villagers pointed out that this man was a suspected COVID-19 patient. He was quarantined and tested negative for the infection. When he returned to his village, he was discriminated against and socially boycotted by villagers. At this, he committed suicide."
However, the SHO told PTI that the matter was being investigated whether he was discriminated against or socially boycotted by villagers.
"I have sent an ASI on the spot. So far, no issue of social boycott or discrimination has come to the fore. I will be able to say anything in detail about this at around 5 pm after the ASI's return," He added.
Meanwhile, the DGP urged people to maintain social distancing (to check the spread of COVID-19), which "does not mean social discrimination".
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