Coronavirus: Shillong Youth Commits Suicide after being Stranded in Agra amid Lockdown

Shillong, March 31, 2020:

A young man, Aldrin Lyngdoh, hailing from Shillong in Meghalaya, who had chosen a decent life over theft in the small city, has committed suicide in Agra and has blamed the nationwide lockdown following the outbreak of coronavirus.

"Modi has closed all the ways for me. I have nowhere to go. Where will I go? The owner doesn't feel pity for me. Seema Chaudhury, she told me to go wherever I wanted to. Where will I go? Please help me. I don't know where to go. I see only one way. I see suicide. That's all. I just want a help from you. If you have humanity, please take my dead body to my town so that I can relax. Please in the name of God. Please. Because today I will be no more, help me out please. I am not joking. Please help me out," he wrote in his suicide note.

Lyngdoh has blamed his owner for his suicidal step in his note. He stated that Seema Chaudhury, his owner, "thinks that her father-in-law is a Minister and she can do whatever she likes, please show them how she killed me. Please."

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The Shillong Times Editor, Patricia Mukhim earlier today took to Facebook and shared the suicide note written by Aldrin Lyngdoh, who claimed to belong from a poor family. "My mom has expired so I had to move on to do something for myself. I was a thief from Shillong and I thought it's better to move out from there because I wanted to change my life," read his roughly written suicide note.

She shared the note and posted, "Does anyone on my FB list in Meghalaya happen to know this young man or any of his relatives who can be contacted? He is in Agra and desperate if we go by the message he wrote to Mr Robin Hibu, IPS in charge of NE Affairs in Delhi."

While speaking with Inside Northeast, Robin Hibu said, "He committed suicide around midnight today. It's very sad. I am concerned about his identification and then informing the local Police. We are still working on it. This boy we could only trace that this boy came to Agra some years back, worked at a hotel as a waiter. He also had a very few friends."

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He also informed that since the Shillong boy was not fluent in Hindi, the local people in Agra nicknamed him as "Tapaa". "A lot of things might have landed him to this drastic step. Nowadays, an added problem is there - Coronavirus," he added, signalling at the rising cases of racial discrimination against the ones from Northeastern part of India.

Aldrin's dilemma led to his suicide. However, many people, who had moved out of their hometowns for better work prospects, are now facing the brunt of the sudden lockdown of 21 days.

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The Ministry of Home Affairs recently issued a directive to the States/UTs to take measures for the ones living from hand to mouth. It had directed the States to to create relief shelters with all the basic amenities and mitigate the economic hardship to prevent the exodus of migrant workers to their hometowns/villages.

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