UK PMO helps Delhi cops prevent suicide attempt

NEW DELHI: It was a race against time on Wednesday night for policemen who were alerted by the office of the British prime minister about a possible suicide attempt by a woman in Delhi.
In an email sent to the United Kingdom PM, the 43-year-old woman, a former municipal corporation school teacher, had said she would kill herself if no help arrived within two hours. This message was urgently conveyed to the Indian high commission in London, which forwarded it to the external affairs ministry and Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office.
The police control room and all the police districts in the city were put on alert. At 11pm, the cops traced the IP address of the device on which the email was sent to Rohini. Technical surveillance zeroed in on the address at Sector 21, but the exact location couldn’t be pinpointed. After a search of nearly two hours, the cops resorted to knocking on the doors in each of the colonies to enquire about the woman. The security guards were also roped in for the search.
Around 1am, the woman was finally located on the first floor of an apartment. The cops called on the mobile number provided by a security guard, but the phone went unanswered. Knocking on her door elicited no response either.
“Fearing the worst, we called the fire department and disaster management teams to cut open the grille and the front door,” said P K Mishra, DCP (Rohini). “The noise brought the woman to the door. Frail and clearly anxious and frightened, she requested the police team to leave saying she was okay. Only a few policemen remained to counsel her.”
Police officers found the woman’s house filled with animal excreta and reeking horribly. The woman too was in a malodorous state.
During counselling, the woman revealed she was a divorcee and had left her job as a school teacher for personal reasons. She admitted to taking big loans a few years ago that she was now unable to repay. “We tried to find out more, but she avoided our questions,” said a police officer.
Doctors later told the cops that the woman was suffering from depression arising from unresolved emotional issues and the stress caused by her financial burden. After consulting a magistrate, police got her admitted to Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS) for treatment. Efforts are being made to locate her relatives who can take custody of her once she recovered.