Abtment of suicide IPC 306 ~ Chennai Bridges and people jumping Over !!!

One cannot be faulted, it one has missed out or intentionally skipped this news item of  a couple reportedly jumping into the Adyaru river from Thiru-Vi-Ka Bridge, recently.

The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) undertook rescue operations immediately after the fire control room received a call about the incident, around 4.20 p.m.“We took the dingy and rowed into the river,” said a TNFRS officer. The search, which went on for nearly four hours, proved futile.“The river is nearly 20-ft deep and there is plenty of sludge underneath. It will be difficult to retrieve the bodies if they get stuck in it,” said a local fisherman. According to the police, two others committed suicide in separate incidents this week, jumping into the river from this bridge.

Suicide (Latin suicidium, from suicaedere, "to kill oneself") is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair, the cause of which can be attributed to a mental disorder such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse. Stress factors such as financial difficulties or troubles with interpersonal relationships often play a significant role. Napier Bridge, Adyar bridge, Hamilton bridge, Maraimalaiadigal bridge, Thiru Vi Kabridge  and more….. Chennai has no great rivers but – still there are many bridges..and in someways they are infamous too….  not because they are  old, unkempt, writhing under the flow of traffic…  some of them are hotspots – where some have ended their lives by leaping from the bridges !

Corporation officials earlier stated that Police requested them to raise the parapet wall of the bridge to deter suicide attempts.  Recently travelling on Thiru Vi Kabridge, found it was being barricaded, perhaps as a temporary measure or as a start to the works of increasing the height.  An official is quoted as saying that raising these walls and setting up barricades is expensive. Can that really prevent people – will not there be newer spots and can all locations be sealed ?

In another incident, TOI Chennai edition reports that a man leapt to death from 6^th floor.  The report states that a 24-year-old employee of a juice shop reportedly jumped to death in the wee hours of Thursday [3/9/15]  from the sixth floor of a building in Adyar, allegedly after a fight with his employer, police said.Ramesh, who owned the juice shop, was arrested on charges of abetting the suicide of his employee, Selvam. He was remanded in judicial custody .

Late on Wednesday evening, police found, the two men had an argument. Ramesh charged Selvam with taking frequent breaks during work, while Selvam said he could work only for a short time for the salary he was paid. Ramesh then slapped the younger man, police said. Later, on finding Selvam drunk, Ramesh locked him in his room on the sixth floor. In the night, Selvam's school mate Vivek came and opened the door. Both had a chat for a while and Vivek left for home.Early in the morning, Selvam's body was found in front of the building on Sardar Patel Road by a passerby who called police. The body was sent to Government Royapettah Hospital.Preliminary investigations revealed that Selvam, a native of Thirumalthurai village in Perambalur district, had been working at the juice shop for a year. He was allegedly in a relationship with a woman in the neighbourhood and often went out. Ramesh had warned him in this regard, police said.

ThiruVi. Ka. Bridge is the road bridge across the Adyar River connecting Mylapore / Mandaveli / RA puram in the north of the river to the South – Besant Nagar, Gandhi nagar, Thiruvanmiyur.    The new bridge in 1973  was named after  Thiru. V. Kalyanasundaram,  replacingElphinstone Bridge which  currently is  not in use.  ThiruvarurViruttachalaKalyanasundaram(1883 – 1953), better known by his Tamil initials Thiru. Vi Ka was a Tamil scholar, essayist and activist. He is esteemed for the strong humanism of his essays, the analytical depth of his commentaries on classical Tamil literature and philosophy, and the clear, fluid style of his prose. Elphinstone Bridge  was constructed in 1840 and named after the then Governor of Madras Elphinstone.

Section 306 in The Indian Penal Code :306. Abetment of suicide.—If any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

4^th Sept. 2015.