RAHIM YAR KHAN: Five days after the suicide of Sub-Inspector Mary Rose, members of her family have blamed the senior police officers of the district for her act.

On Thursday, her grandfather, Hadayat Masih, told reporters at his house that Rose was very depressed because she was not granted wedlock transfer or leave.

He said there were two aspects of her suicide, first, the district police officer (DPO) did not approve her leave as well as her transfer to Lahore and second, her husband, a police employee at Special Branch, Lahore, had put pressure on her to come to Lahore by quitting the job.

Hadayat Masih made it clear that there were no differences between Rose and her husband Sarwar Masih, as police claimed, saying she had committed suicide over domestic issues.

He said Sarwar only wanted her transfer to Lahore for a happy married life with his family. He said Rose did not want to resign and went into depression that led to her suicide.

She submitted an application for leave on March 8. On the day of her death, she went to the DPO to inquire about her application, said Masih, adding the DPO did not grant her leave on the excuse of lack of police force.

Hadayat Masih said his granddaughter did not argue with the officer and, according to her colleagues, saluted the DPO with shivering hands and returned home. She consumed pesticides and died.

Remembering his granddaughter, Masih said Rose never discussed her departmental matters and job issues with her parents or other family members.

He said she had a right to be transferred to the city of her husband’s posting and she had submitted an application for the wedlock transfer eight years back.

Saying that there was a policy of wedlock transfer according to the rules, which could not be denied; however, added that he did not want any further action on the issue.

Rose’s mother also reiterated the claims of her grandfather, saying her daughter committed suicide due to behaviour in her department and the transfer issue.

Superintendent of Police (SP) investigation Dost Muhammad said it was an unfortunate incident because Rose was a brave and dutiful investigating officer.

However, he rejected the claims of the family, saying that according to a preliminary inquiry, some domestic issues were the reason for her suicide. He said her suicide note was found on the mirror in her room and more findings in the inquiry would be shared later.

Dost Muhammad further said the police department had the discipline and any case of leave was put in the orderly room of the DPO while there were no chances of rejection of the leave application in normal circumstances while under special circumstances, like law and order issue in the district, the matter of leave could be put on a halt for the time being.

The SP claimed that a day before her suicide, Rose came to his office to receive a cheque and she was very calm.

Police spokesperson Saif Ali Wains went a step further and told Dawn that the deceased had not applied for any leave or wedlock transfer in recent days; however, he said he did not know about any application in this regard during the previous years. He said relating the issue of her leave or transfer to her suicide was not right.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2022