Bhubaneswar, Oct. 24: A 36-year-old constable of the Mahila police station here today attempted suicide on the premises.

Though police are yet to ascertain the exact motive behind the incident, they suspect family dispute drove her to take the step. The constable, Gitanjali Nayak, was immediately admitted to Capital Hospital here after she consumed poison and is currently undergoing treatment at the hospital's intensive care unit.

According to witnesses, the constable started vomiting on the police station premises around 2.30 in the afternoon. "After we enquired if she was feeling unwell, she told us that she had consumed poison. We immediately rushed her to the hospital," said one of her colleagues at the police station.

Sources said Gitanjali had joined the Odisha police in 2005 and has been working with the Mahila police station for the past three years.

"She is married for the past 12 years, but her relationship with her husband has been strained for the past few years," said one of her friends.

Besides, her friends also told that tremendous work pressure on her part kept her away from her family for prolonged periods.

"Most of the constables are entrusted with the job of maintaining law and order besides work at the police station. In the absence of adequate manpower in the police force, most constables had to work more than 12 hours a day, making it difficult for them to dedicate time towards their families," said a constable, on condition of anonymity.

Deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi said the condition of the constable was stable.

"Once she is able to speak, we will ask her the circumstances which forced her to take the extreme step," said Bhoi.

Earlier on September 2, Sandip Hati, a home guard set himself afire near chief minister Naveen Patnaik's official residence. He had put himself on fire after he was terminated from his job in 2013. Hati was admitted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack with 70 per cent burn injuries, where he died on September 11.