CHENNAI: The ‘104’ helpline, with 50 call centre workers and three psychologists to handle anxious students, received 7,250 calls on Thursday.
Ironically, most of the calls were not from students who had failed but from students who had scored above 450 marks but had fallen short of their own expectations.
When the Plus Two results were announced two weeks ago, most callers were anxious students and parents who were faced with failure. However, this time despite impressive results, most of the callers were students who were expecting State ranks. Seven callers from Ramanathapuram, Tiruchy, Dindigul and Dharmapuri districts who were on the verge of taking their own lives, were counselled and saved on time.
“From last night, we have been flooded with calls and we have really managed to help them stay away from the extreme step. Most of them are boys and most of them have scored quite good marks, but their disappointment was making them depressed,” said B Prabhudoss, GVK-EMRI that runs the emergency services with the government.
Seventeen cases of attempted suicide were reported from across the State to 108, almost all except a couple have been safely accounted for. One of these attempted suicide cases was in Vellore district. Disappointed that she scored less than her expectation in the board examination, Sujitha (15) set herself ablaze in her house on Periyar Street, Kazhinjur on Thursday, suffering 80 per cent burns. She is battling for life in Government Medical College and Hospital, Vellore.
Sujitha, daughter of K K Dhakishina Murthi, and a private matriculation school student scored 416 marks. After learning of her marks from an internet cafe nearby, she took the extreme step minutes after reaching home. The girl had earlier told her family that she felt ashamed to score less than what she expected. The Viruthampet police registered are investigating.