BENGALURU: It was not an act of cruelty or insensitivity that made Vikram Ramdass Lingeshwar abandon his two-year-old Great Dane ‘Ravan’ inside his car at Kempegowda International Airport on Tuesday and set off to take a flight, insists his family.
Vikram, a hockey skater of national repute, was severely mentally ill and had no control over his actions or their consequences, his parents said. The 31-year-old has a five-year-old daughter, Aviva. His wife Vedha is a homemaker. He resides in Kasturi Nagar and specialises in inline hockey skating, and is vice-secretary of the Bangalore District Roller Sports Association (BRDSA).
Vikram’s father Lingeshwar, who works on construction projects, is upset and told The New Indian Express that the present bout of mental illness started six days ago. “My son passed through a similar phase last year too, but that lasted only three days and he was treated at Dr Ambedkar Medical College. The phase of mental illness is more severe this time. For the past six days, he repeatedly said that at least 10 people were trying to kill him. He complained to the police six times about it. Hoysala police landed up at our house twice and he told them our close relatives were trying to harm him.”
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Insisting that his son would never dream of killing Ravan, Lingeshwar said he spent a lot of time with the pet. “We are very thankful to the CISF for saving our pet as well as getting hold of our son at the airport. No one had any idea he was heading to Mumbai. It looks like an attempt to escape from his imaginary murderers by keeping everyone in the dark. He must not have known how to take Ravan along and just abandoned him,” he added.
Vikram’s mother Kalpana said, “For the past four days, my son was roaming non-stop across the city with Ravan in his car, worried that he would be attacked if he steps out. Both have not eaten during the period. That’s why Ravan became so thin as this breed needs a lot of food.”Lingeshwar added that his son and family were passing through a very dark phase. “When we went to the police station on Monday evening to pick him up, he identified me as his grandfather.”
Vikram is a terrific athlete and has played in an international tournament too. When he announced his retirement from inline hockey, he was made vice-secretary of BRDSA. He has been instrumental in sending at least 25 athletes from Karnataka to take part at the national level,” he added.The family has sent him to Spandana Hospital Rehabilitation Centre at Nandini Layout for treatment.
Pet much better
Ravan is responding well to treatment at Charlie Animal Rescue centre. Manager R P Keerthan said, “He is still weak as he was stuck for two hours inside the car without ventilation. But he has improved by around 40 per cent since yesterday. We cannot say the dog is out of danger. But it looks like he is on the road to recovery.”