(Warning: This article mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out for help. You can contact local emergency services, helplines, or mental-health NGOs.)
“She would say that the pressure of BLO work had become so much that she couldn’t handle anything. She didn’t get help from anywhere and she broke down from within. In the morning, we thought she was cooking, but when we went to see her, she was found hanging,” recalled Soko Ekka, whose wife, Shantimani Ekka, died by suicide on 19 November.
Shantimani, 51, lived in Malbazar, West Bengal. An Anganwadi worker by profession, she had also been given additional responsibilities as a Booth Level Officer (BLO). Her family says that during the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), she was single-handedly managing the workload of the entire booth.
According to them, the mounting pressure — long hours, the responsibility of correcting faulty forms, and the absence of support from officials — left her mentally exhausted.
Her death is not an isolated incident. Over the past few weeks, at least six BLOs in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and West Bengal have allegedly died by suicide. Those familiar with the process say the mental pressure associated with the Election Commission’s SIR has grown sharply across states.