Diamond toll rises: Surat polisher becomes 15th worker to commit suicide

Another diamond polisher committed suicide by consuming poison in his house at Katargam in Surat,on Sunday. The deceased was staying alone in a rented house and was earlier working in a diamond unit at Nandu Doshi Wadi in Katargam. With this,15 people from the diamond industry have committed suicide in the last couple of months in Surat.

According to sources,24-year-old Alpesh Dhandhukia,a resident of Gurukrupa Apartment in Deepnagar society in Katargam,consumed poison at his house on Sunday morning. Dhandhukia was rushed to the nearby Prannath Hospital for treatment,where he was declared dead by doctors late at night. Dhandhukia’s two sisters,who stay in Surat with their family,rushed to the hospital after learning about the incident. Police took charge of the body and later sent it to the New Civil Hospital for post-mortem.

Police sources said the deceased worked in a diamond unit owned by one Kiritbhai at Nandu Doshi Wadi in Katargam for five years. He had lost his job after Diwali and was struggling for a livelihood. Dhandhukia,who stayed in a room owned by his uncle Jayanti Dhandhukia,was a resident of Rajkot and his parents had died when he was five.

According to Jayanti,Dhandhukia was under depression for the last one week because of his unemployed status,and this condition might have driven him to take such a drastic step.

While many diamond units in Surat have closed down,many have reduced the wages of the diamond polishers besides increasing their work hours.