GURGAON: A govt school teacher allegedly went to the fifth-floor terrace of the mini-secretariat and tried to harm herself after an argument with election officials over being assigned BLO duties at two polling booths. She was stopped before she could injure herself, her husband said.The incident on Aug 13 followed repeated attempts by the teacher and her family to persuade officials to relieve her of the additional BLO duty. She was initially assigned as BLO at booth 96 in Sector 23 and was later given charge of booth 104 in Mullahera after another teacher’s deployment was cancelled.The two booths were in distant locations, leaving her with an “unworkable” dual responsibility.Her husband, Dinesh Kumar, said the couple had raised the issue with officials and written to the chief election commissioner on Aug 11. Two days later, they went to the mini-secretariat seeking relief from one of the assignments.Dinesh alleged that their meeting with election tehsildar Anita Yadav turned into a heated exchange.“She told my wife that she would see how she would avoid doing both duties and threatened suspension and an FIR,” Dinesh alleged. He said he was subsequently asked to leave the office, while his wife remained behind.Dinesh said she later walked out of the office in distress and went to the fifth-floor terrace. He said he followed her upstairs and realised she was trying to harm herself. He and other visitors intervened and called police. She was subsequently medically examined and an MLC was obtained.“She was under tremendous mental pressure after being allegedly threatened with suspension and an FIR. She walked out of the office in distress, and within minutes I found her on the fifth-floor terrace,” Dinesh said.The family subsequently filed a police complaint against Yadav, alleging harassment and pressure over the dual deployment.Yadav, however, filed a counter-complaint against the teacher, Dinesh and her brother-in-law, alleging that they crea-ted a commotion at the election office on Aug 13, obstructed govt work and threatened officials.The complaint also alleged that the teacher threatened to harm herself if her election duty was not cancelled. Several election-office employees were named as witnesses.A senior district official told TOI both complaints were being examined. “We have received two complaints and are investigating the matter. Several teachers make excuses in order to avoid election duty. We are examining the allegations made by the teacher and her husband,” the official said.The family has sought an independent inquiry through the CM portal, argu-ing that officials involved in the dispute cannot fai-rly examine allegations against themselves.“We are not against election duty. We want an inquiry into why my wife was put under such pressure and threatened when she sought relief from an unworkable dual assignment,” Dinesh said.
