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[Blwe_torch]

‘Suffocated’, lady officer kills herself
 
 
June 16:

Lieutenant Susmita Chakraborthy asked the army guesthouse sentry for his rifle yesterday afternoon, telling him she wanted to pose with it for a photograph.

Susmita went inside and shot herself. She was 25.

Her mother Sadhana, who was staying at the guesthouse, said she was “disillusioned with her present job”.

Commissioned eight months ago and working at the Northern Command headquarters at Udhampur, Susmita was platoon commander of a transport company of the Army Supply Corps’ 5071 battalion.

Sadhana, who had accompanied her daughter from hometown Bhopal where the officer had gone on leave, said: “I came with her as she was feeling very low.”

Mother and daughter arrived at Udhampur a couple of weeks ago. Sadhana said Susmita felt “suffocated” and wanted to quit the army but could not as “she had to pay the bond money”. “We told her that the money could be arranged by selling the house in Bhopal”, but “she was concerned about her younger brother who had just passed Class XII”.

There was no formal request from Susmita to leave the service.

Records showed she had tried to kill herself twice earlier, but no details were given. A report prepared by Col Vijay Pande, a psychiatrist in the command hospital at Udhampur, said she did not show suicidal tendencies but she was mildly anxious and depressed.

A few weeks ago, she had brought sexual harassment charges against her superiors.

Brig. K.K. Chopra, commander of her battalion, said that on her return from leave she told him how she wanted to excel over her colleagues but found herself unable to cope with the high standards demanded by her duties.

The family’s version is different. In Bhopal, her father P.B. Chakraborthy, who works in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, said she had told him she hated the ‘girlish’ assignments given to her.

The lieutenant, a gold medallist in chemistry, was counselled by a psychiatrist at the command hospital four times. She has been on leave a little too frequently for a newly commissioned officer.

When she returned from leave, Chopra and his wife noticed “behavioural irregularities” and advised her to seek psychiatric help.

Susmita was preparing for the “Young Officers’ Course”, conducted in Bangalore where she was due shortly.

Susmita’s is the second suicide by a lady officer since the army began recruiting women in 1993. Major G. Shobha Rani hanged herself on May 29. A failed relationship was the likely reason.

Four soldier suicides have taken place since April 30, a trend that discredits claims by army headquarters that welfare measures and psychological counselling were keeping soldiers spirited.

In November last year, commanding officers were instructed to take special notice of soldiers before they went on leave and on return. In Susmita’s case, army sources say, this was followed. Still, she killed herself.
 
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060617/asp/frontpage/story_6364165.asp

[Blwe_torch]

A fighter who hated girlie jobs 
RASHEED KIDWAI

 
Susmita with her brother 

Bhopal, June 16: Susmita Chakraborthy wanted to be an achiever and to be remembered. But the gold medallist who was called “company bahadur” by her friends became the second woman officer of the Indian Army to commit suicide.

At A-162/2 Saket Nagar, her father P.B. Chakraborthy was unable to utter a word. Tears rolled from eyes that were glued to the door, as if waiting for his 25-year-old first-born to arrive.

A lieutenant, Susmita died yesterday after she took the rifle of a guard posted at the army guesthouse in Udhampur, went in and shot herself. She had returned to Udhampur a couple of weeks ago from a two-month leave that she spent at home with her parents and younger brother. Mother Sadhana accompanied her.

Late in the evening, Chakraborthy pulled himself together to speak. Susmita had been feeling low over the work assigned to her and had told her father she hated organising late night parties, arranging transport, welcoming and handing over bouquets to visiting seniors. “She hated the ‘girlish’ assignments that were given to her,” he recalled.

But Chakraborthy does not believe his jovial and effusive daughter could end her life so easily. Nor can her brother, her friends and teachers and the family’s neighbours.

She was always the fighter. Susmita wanted to be a doctor but after she failed to get through the MBBS entrance test, she joined the premier Nutan College and earned a gold medal in her B.Sc. She then sat for the state public service commission exam and got through, but opted out because she thought it was not good enough.

Sandhya, a classmate, said: “She wanted to do MBA but when she heard about women in the army, she said that was the place for her. We used to call her company bahadur.”

Neighbour Sudhanshu said the Chakraborthys were a happy family. “I never heard of any financial problems. He (Chakraborthy) is a senior master technician at BHEL, owns a two-storied house worth over Rs 20 lakh and has a son who is brilliant in studies.”

Before Susmita left, the family had tentatively agreed she would be allowed to quit her job if she wanted. Mother Sadhana was a little unsure and wanted her to continue, to avoid paying the punitive bond money for quitting the army before the mandatory five years. “We had told her the money could be arranged by selling the house,” she said.

But the lieutenant, who turned 25 on June 10, knew the effort that had gone into buying the land and building the white and red two-storied house. With her father due to retire soon, her mother’s worries about her brother’s education — he has just passed Class XII — might have weighed on her mind.

Unless Susmita had another reason to end her life.
 
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060617/asp/frontpage/story_6364350.asp

[pieterSAN]

Does anyone know what the suicide rates are for men and women in the army? Curious to see how they compare with the rates across the population.

[Blwe_torch]

Govt supports women in Army: Pranab

Sudhi Ranjan Sen

Sunday, June 18, 2006 (New Delhi):


Addressing the controversy that has followed the suicide of Lieutenant Sushmita Chakraborty, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that the government supports having women in the armed forces.

Speaking to reporters, Mukherjee informed that the Ministry of Defence has decided to strengthen stress counselling for the armed forces.

"There is a counselling set up to address the stress and strains faced by the officers and personnel. That system will be strengthened," he said.

Furthermore, he added that as per the rules of the Army, a board of inquiry has been set up and action will be taken only after looking at the findings of the inquiry.

BJP vs Army

Meanwhile, the BJP has attacked Army Vice-Chief Lieutenant General S Pattabhiraman for his reported statement that women are not welcome in the force.

In a recent interview published in the Hindustan Times, Lieutenant General Pattabhiraman was quoted as saying, "Ideally, we would like to have gentlemen officers and not lady officers at the unit level."

"Feedback from lower formations suggests that comfort levels with lady officers are low. We can do without them," he added.

In the wake of these remarks, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj has demanded that the Army Vice-Chief be suspended with immediate effect.

The National Commission for Women is ordering a probe and has also demanded that the Army take back its comments.

"There is a need to sensitize the army. It is a new field and no one can stop women from joining the Army. We did not expect the Army to make such a comment and it should take back its comment immediately," said Dr Girja Vyas, Chairperson, NCW.

'Out of context'

In response, the Army has said that the Vice-Chief's remarks have been twisted and quoted out of context.

But caught in a delicate situation, the defence minister chose to be politically correct without actually criticising the Vice-Chief.

"There are problems. An inquiry has been ordered, let's wait. There should be more sensitisation and more women should join the army," said Pranab.

But while the inquiry will be looking at why Lt Chakraborty committed suicide, the tragedy has clearly brought the military's attitude towards women under public scrutiny.