A 30-year-old assistant engineer with the Public Works Department (PWD) in Assam’s Bongaigaon was found dead in her rented accommodation on Tuesday afternoon. As per police sources, she died by suicide and left behind a note blaming two senior officials allegedly pressuring her to pass fraudulent bills.
The deceased, a resident of Guwahati, had recently been posted to Bongaigaon. Her body was discovered hanging in her rented apartment around 1:30 pm, police officials said.
In her handwritten suicide note accessed by TDG, the engineer alleged that she had been under intense mental stress due to constant pressure from two senior officials who allegedly forced her to approve bills for incomplete work. Based on the note and a formal complaint lodged by her family, police registered a case under Section 108 (abetment of suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
The accused have been identified as Dinesh Medhi Sharma, a recently promoted Superintendent Engineer who earlier served as Executive Engineer in Bongaigaon, and Aminul Islam, a Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) currently posted in Bongaigaon.
The woman’s note, which surfaced on social media shortly after her death, is now part of the investigation. A senior officer confirmed the note’s authenticity and said it was recovered from the room where her body was found. It has been sent for forensic analysis.
The Assam CM, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has taken stock of the matter and has already begun an investigation.
“We are investigating the matter and we have sent the Engineers on the spot to check the work of the building and through that assessment we will figure. The engineer and sdo have been arrested,” added Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.
In the note, she described months of mental harassment and lack of institutional support. “I am taking this step due to extreme stress from my work, there is no one to guide me in the office. I am tired and have nowhere to go. My parents are worried for me,” the note reads.
Following the postmortem examination, the body was handed over to the family on Tuesday evening.
Police said further investigations are underway and more arrests could follow if others are found complicit in the alleged coercion.
