Taekwondo coach dies by suicide, alleges non-payment of salary in note

A 46-year-old Taekwondo coach, who was out of work for over a year following Covid-19 lockdown, died by suicide in New Delhi. He was apparently upset over non-payment of pending salary by a private school where he worked earlier, police said on Thursday.

The incident was reported from Outer Delhi's Mangolpuri on Wednesday and the deceased has been identified as Tanoop Johar, who was found hanging by his family in his room.

He used to work in a school in Rohini, but had been unemployed for over a year now.

In to a note recovered by the police, the deceased has mentioned names of two persons belonging to the school management, alleging that he was disturbed over non-payment of his pending salary. He was also apparently upset over his status as an unemployed person.

Johar, who was taking online classes since March last year during the lockdown but had to discontinue later over a dispute with the school management over salary, had earlier filed a case against the school management in a labour court.

"After two months of taking online classes last year, Johar questioned the school authorities over non-payment of salary. They gave an excuse that they were waiting for students to pay fees and kept assuring us that we will be given our salaries. But after four months, when we asked them again, the school management told us to resign," one of Johar's former colleagues was quoted by PTI as saying.

"During the lockdown last year, we also wrote to the school authorities about the issue, but still our salary has not been paid. We also moved court against the management, but we are still waiting for our salaries to be paid," the colleague added.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Parvinder Singh said all claims are being looked into, but a case is yet to be registered as the allegations are being verified.