At least two police personnel have been found dead during duty hours within a week. The back-to-back apparent suicides in the Nepal Police organisation have raised concerns about mental health and the need for psychological training to ensure that officers are mentally as well as physically fit.

A police officer was found dead on the premises of the federal parliament building in Baneshwar, Kathmandu, on Wednesday morning. Ajit Gole, 22, of Dolakha was found dead in a toilet of the parliament compound. After a preliminary investigation, police suspected that he shot himself.

Dinesh Mainali, spokesperson for the Kathmandu Metro Police Range, said Gole, who was on duty from 6 am to 10 am, was found dead at around 8 in the morning.

According to a police source, Gole was engaged to a girl five months ago. The girl went to Dubai with Gole's monetary and other support. However, after reaching Dubai, she reportedly stopped contacting him.

“Our primary finding is that Gole’s death is related to family issues,” Dan Bahadur Karki, spokesperson for Nepal Police, told the Post.

However, Karki refused to blame Gole’s death solely on his relationship with the girl. “It would be too early to reach a conclusion.”

Lawmaker Menaka Kumari Pokharel of the ruling CPN-UML raised the issue of mental well-being in the police force at a meeting of the House of Representatives hours after the incident.

She emphasised the need for psychological counselling in addition to other training for the security personnel.

Speaking in the zero hours of the House meeting, lawmaker Pokharel said that as the army and police personnel are becoming the victims of mental stress, psychological counselling should be made a part of the official training.

“Today, another incident occurred on these premises,” lawmaker Pokharel said.

Though the issue of mental state of duty personnel has drawn public concern, a senior official at the police hospital said no serious problems are observed among Nepal Police personnel.

“We barely see any member visiting the hospital seeking treatment for mental issues,” the senior police official told the Post, requesting anonymity. “Our society holds social taboos about mental health, and these are also reflected in police officers.”

On June 13, another policewoman, Karishma Sunuwar, 25, was found dead by hanging in the bathroom of the Women, Children and Elderly Citizens Service Centre of the district police office, Siraha.

Meanwhile, police on Tuesday arrested 27-year-old Pushkar Thapa Magar, a police constable from Banke working in Humla, on the charge of suicide abetment in the case of Karishma Sunwar.

In Sunuwar and Gole's cases, a common factor was relationship. When both police officers could not handle the psychological pressure from their troubled relationships, they seem to have decided to take their own life, says a former police officer, asking not to be named.

Both are psychological issues, which need to be addressed in time, the former police officer told the Post.

Police spokesperson Karki said the increasing number of suicides among police personnel may be rooted in their psychological problems, among other factors.

But there is no gauge to measure someone’s psychological problem. The only way to know if someone is a victim of psychological distress is through communication by family members or friends about their problems. “But in the cases of two police officers who committed suicide, we were not aware of their psychological issues,” Karki added.

Karki said they also ease police officers' duties if they know their problems. “For example, we do not make them work long hours, nor do we assign them duties involving weapons.”