19-year-old jumps off building in Panchkula after parents test positive for COVID-19

Tribune News Service
Panchkula, April 21

A 19-year-old jumped off the seventh-floor terrace of his building in Panchkula’s Sector 20, police said on Wednesday.  

Suryansh Pathak was a first-year engineering student whose parents both tested positive recently for COVID-19. His body was handed over to his family after autopsy, Sector 20 police station SHO Inspector Dalip Kumar said.

Police officially maintain they’re investigating the reason for his suspected suicide, but sources in the department claim that it was possibly because of a fear of having contracted COVID-19.

No note has been found indicating reasons, police say.

SHO Dalip Kumar cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

 “It’s very easy to assume he ended his life over COVID-19. But the case is still being investigated,” he said.

It is very easy to say that he ended his life over the COVID scare, he added.