US national jumps off hospital's sixth floor, dies

Published On: April 3, 2018 05:30 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

Had tried to commit suicide twice in custody: Immigration officials

KATHMANDU, April 3: John Parmak, 52, presumed to be a US citizen, had made two unsuccessful suicide attempts while in immigration detention before finally jumping off the sixth floor of the National Trauma Center of Bir Hospital on Sunday evening, immigration officials said.

The hospital confirmed John died on the spot. He made the suicidal jump at around 5:30 pm on Sunday by pushing aside two policemen who were taking him to the wash room, said hospital sources. On Monday, his body was taken to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for a postmortem.

Krishna Sapkota, an official at the Department of Immigration, said police had handed him over to the immigration office on March 29 after he was found living in Nepal without any official document including a passport. "That day, John first bit his hand. Later he cut his hand. We had to take him to the police hospital for treatment," Sapkota, explained, "After returning from the hospital, he tried to slit his throat with a blade in the toilet."

Immediately after returning to the detonation center of the immigration office, John told the policemen on duty that he wanted to go to toilet. Inside the toilet, he tried to slit his throat using an abandoned blade. The policemen saw this and he was taken to Bir Hospital again on March 30," the immigration official explained.

John was admitted to the Trauma Center on March 30 after he attempted to commit suicide by slitting his throat with a blade. He was being treated in the Burn and Plastic Surgery Ward after being transferred from the Post-Operative Ward, according to hospital sources.

In the hospital, John went to the wash room and jumped off the sixth floor of the hospital by pushing down two police officials.

The Department of Immigration is still investigating the matter whereas the US Embassy in Kathmandu is also trying to collect details about the deceased. The department is trying to track his passport number and other details, according to immigration officials.