Jet Airways Employee, Suffering from Cancer, Kills Himself

The 43-year-old Jet Airways employee was suffering from cancer for the past three years.

Jet Airways.

(Photo: Reuters)

A senior technician with Jet Airways allegedly killed himself by jumping from the roof of his apartment in Maharashtra's Palghar district on Saturday, 27 April, reported PTI.

45-year-old Shailesh Singh jumped off the terrace of a four-storeyed building in Nalasopara East on Friday afternoon, an official said.

According to the police, Singh was in depression as he was suffering from pancreatic cancer for the past three years and was facing financial constraints as the grounded airline stopped paying salaries to its employees.

“He was suffering from cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. Prime facie, it seems he was suffering from depression due to the ailment,” the police official said.

Vice President of National Aviator's Guild Asim Valiani blamed the government and all the political parties for the current situation of the airlines and said he will not be surprised if more cases like Singh's follow.

“He was suffering from cancer. When you know no hope is left, then a person would do anything. I won't be surprised if there are few more cases that come up,” he said.

“We were hoping something like this would not happen, but it has happened. It had happened in the case of Kingfisher also, that time also govt didn’t do anything. Even now we have been appealing to govt, there have been protests all over the country.”

Asim Valiani, Vice President of National Aviator’s Guild

Valiani, who said he will be boycotting elections this time, said that they are unaware of who is heading the airways currently. “We don't know who is heading Jet Airways now, we want to know what went wrong.”

He made an appeal to all the stakeholders to help Jet Airways and its employees.

It was the first suicide of an employee since the airline suspended operations, as per functionaries of Jet Airways Staff and Employees Association.

The deceased’s son is also working in the operations department of the airline, they added.

Singh is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

An accidental death case has been registered and a probe is underway into the incident, the police official said.