CHENNAI: Depressed and suicidal after being fired from his job, a 27-year-old man climbed on top of a mobile tower in Saidapet on Monday and threatened to end his life by jumping down.
The suicide bid that lasted more than three hours ended when the youth was convinced by others to come down the tower to take the mike he wanted to air his woes to a larger audience below. He was grabbed by fire service personnel and public, and brought down to safety.
Jayapal climbed up the 60-feet high mobile tower on top of a three storey building near the Attu-thotti bridge in Saidapet. “Since the building was under renovation, he got easy access to the tower from where he threatened to jump,” said a fire officer who was part of the rescue mission.
It took the people down below and the fire and rescue personnel around three hours to convince Jayapal to come down by promising him a mike.
“He asked for a mike to tell people the reason for taking this extreme step. It was only when a few men promised to give him the mike that he came half way down the tower,” the fire services personnel added. Once he was within reach, the public along with police and fire and rescue personnel grabbed him and brought him down.
“Jayapal is from Tiruchy, an engineering graduate who came to Chennai last September. He is living with his friends near Alandur while working with the telecom department in Taramani on a contract. He was making around `8,500 a month,” said police.
The company recently sacked around 300 persons, including Jayapal. “They had also not given last month’s salary to us,” Jayapal told the police.
Jayapal also had a suicide note in hand that was addressed to the President and the Prime Minister stating that he along with 300 staff were sacked and not paid well. He claimed in his letter that when the staff asked for last month’s salary, the firm threatened them. This depressed him and he decided to end his life.
“People thronged the roads to watch. The locals tried to convince him, but the youth refused to yield even an inch. He threatened to jump when people tried to approach him. So we had to wait. Only when he asked for a mike did the officials manage to bring him down,” said P Saranya, a resident of the area.