Pouring kerosene and attempting to set themselves afire, a woman and her daughter drew attention near the Collectorate here on Monday.
When the alert police caught the two, they found that the duo had a petition addressed to the Collector. The woman, identified as Jegajothi, wife of Ravichandran of Vedasandur taluk, said five months ago, under the guise of getting a job for her son Kumaravel, a local agent Mani Gounder allegedly took him to Mysore. Till date, there has not been a word about his whereabouts. Attempts to ask for details with the agent too failed.
Under such circumstances, Jegajothi said that she had petitioned the Collector two months ago. “As there was no tangible progress in tracing my son, I got frustrated and thus took the extreme step to end my life with my daughter,” she said.
District Collector T.G. Vinay instructed the officials to take action and inform the petitioner on the progress within a week.
Meanwhile, when reporters contacted SP R. Saktivel, he told that 20 days ago, the Vedasandur DSP was directed to enquire into the complaint. “We have taken steps to trace the victim based on the mobile calls made from the agent’s hand phone.
The police are confident of solving the case and rescuing the boy safely. He appealed to the public to approach the officers concerned and not to indulge in acts like committing suicide, which would not bring in desired results.
Those in distress or having suicidal tendencies could seek help and counselling by calling State’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.
