Medico steps out of hosp, dies by suicide in quarry

KOLAR: A 26-year-old postgraduate student of paediatrics from MVJ Medical College in Hoskote of Bengaluru Rural district died allegedly by suicide by jumping into a quarry pit filled with water near Kendatti, off Bengaluru-Chennai national highway, near Kolar.
Dr Darshini, who was from Ballari, is suspected to have ended her life around 11.30am on Sunday. Some villagers later spotted her body afloat and alerted police. The body was fished out by afternoon. Police said the doctor hired an auto near her college to reach the quarry about 25km away. On reaching the spot, she made a call to her friend and said she was committing suicide. Tragedy struck before the friend could alert the authorities.
However, expressing doubts about the suicide theory, Prajval, Darshini's younger brother, said that his sister wouldn't have had the courage to travel nearly 25km (away from her hostel) on her own to an abandoned quarry to end her life. Suspecting foul play, he has urged police to conduct a thorough probe.
According to Dr Dayananda G, medical superintendent of MVJ Medical College, Dr Darshini was on duty on Sunday and reported to work around 8am. Around 10am, she stepped out of the hospital. As she did not return for a long time, her friends and hospital authorities tried to contact her over phone and the same was answered by Kolar police around 3pm, he said. Dr Dayananda said Dr Darshini was doing first-year MD in paediatrics and had secured a PG seat under merit quota and was staying in the hostel attached to the college. Darshini had done MBBS from Koppal College of Medical Sciences.
Stating that there was no cause for Darshini to resort to such an extreme step, Dr Dayananda said she was good at studies and shared a good rapport with her classmates, lecturers and was well-behaved with patients while attending to them at the hospital wards. Kolar police, while doing mahajar in her room, found a prescription from the psychiatry department of a hospital in Hospet. Dr Darshini had lost her father during the pandemic. Her mother and brother live in Ballari.
If you are having suicidal thoughts or in need of emotional support, call suicide prevention helplines: Arogya Vani 104, SAHAI Helpline: 080-25497777.