Lucknow: Man’s cancer battle ends with ‘suicide’ in PGI building

LUCKNOW: A 36-year-old man was found hanging from the staircase railing on the sixth floor of the liver transplant unit in the new SGPGI hospital building on Saturday. The deceased, Nitin Kumar Gangwar, a resident of Pilibhit, was suffering from stomach cancer and may have sunk into depression due to the life-threatening disease and committed suicide, police said.

Gangwar along with his wife Sushum Lata, brother-inlaw Mukesh and father Ashok came to the hospital on December 19 and was admitted in the general ward of the liver transplant unit.

The body was found around 4am after a hospital employee found the patient missing in the ward and informed the family. They began searching for Gangwar on the ground floor and later rushed upstairs. When they reached the sixth floor, they were shocked to see Nitin hanging from the railing of the stairs leading to the terrace.

Police were informed and the body was sent for autopsy. Station House Officer (SHO) PGI, Ravindra Nath Rai, said police suspect suicide, but the autopsy report will provide clarity. Rai said, Gangwar may have chosen the sixth floor as it was non-functional and under construction.

Chief medical superintendent Prof Amit Agarwal said the patient had a history of stomach cancer and underwent surgery. “He was again admitted on December 19 and it was found his cancer had relapsed. The bad news shook him and may have pushed him into depression and triggered the extreme step,” said an official in SGPGI. Gangwar’s wife, Sushum, said he would often complain of nightmares and suffer from nausea, headache and sleepless nights.

“At around 3am, he complained of headache. I tried to comfort him with a head massage, but soon dozed off. When I woke up, I did not find him on the bed,” she said.

Gangwar’s father, Ashok, is a retired government teacher and the lone-earning member of the family. He left behind two sons, Dev, 11, and Saksham, 8. “I did not know my son would take such a harsh step,” he said.