KOCHI: If not for a timely intervention by the police, two teenaged girls would perhaps have lost their lives or faced some untoward situation. For the duo had ventured out of their homes at midnight threatening to end their lives following a family feud.
The dramatic scenes unfolded after the Muvattupuzha police received a call on Wednesday night saying that two Plus Two students, belonging to Puthencruz, were heading to the Kacherithazham bridge in Muvattupuzha to end their lives by jumping into the river.
The girls decided to take the extreme step alleging that their parents were denying them ‘freedom’. Soon after receiving the call, the police team launched a search operation and found the girls standing on the bridge. They were taken to the police station and provided counselling in the presence of female officers.
Later, their mental equilibrium regained sufficiently, the two teenagers were allowed to go with their parents by 11pm. “The police traced the girls soon after receiving the alert. Even if they hadn’t attempted to end their lives, there was the possibility of some untoward incident as the two girls were spotted in the town at midnight. The police intervention averted such a situation,” an officer said.
The girls and their parents have been picking up quarrels over several issues for a while. The teenagers told the police that their parents had imposed several restrictions, and on Wednesday, they decided to leave home. They called one of their friends and told him that they would die by jumping into the river. Sensing danger, he informed the police. A team of police and fire and rescue service officials soon launched a search and reached the spot.
“The girls are in their teens and quite unaware of the seriousness of their act. We provided an hour-long counselling and they backtracked from their earlier decision to take the extreme step,” said Muvattupuzha Inspector C J Martin. Ernakulam Rural SP K Karthick commended the police officers for their timely intervention to save the lives of two girls. “The Muvattupuzha police did a commendable job,” he said.
Quick action
The dramatic scenes unfolded after the police got a call saying that two Plus-II students were heading to the Kacherithazham bridge to end their lives by jumping into the river