Kochi police prevents youngster's suicide attempt after tracking information via Reddit

The incident took place in Kochi recently after a youth made a declaration on Reddit about committing suicide due to unemployment and financial issues at home.

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KOCHI: A timely intervention by the police prevented a youth from committing suicide, after they got a whiff of the youngster's intensions through his post on a social media platform. The incident took place in Kochi recently after a youth made a declaration on Reddit about committing suicide due to unemployment and financial issues at home.

The announcement about suicide was posted by the 22-year-old Mulavukkad, Kochi, native a few days back. Luckily, a Kochi native Abishek whose wife Gowri Lakshmi works as a clerk at the office of Ernakulam DIG Putta Vimaladitya saw the message on Reddit within minutes after it was posted. "Soon, my wife Gowri informed the matter to Vimaladithya who passed on the information to Ernakulam Rural Police Chief Vaibhav Saxena. Vaibhav contacted his cyber police team and directed them to track the person. Even though several attempts were made to identify the person using his profile, it did not succeed initially," a police officer said.

Thus the police team contacted the Reddit office and directed them to provide the details of the profile from which a suicide message was posted. Within minutes, the mobile number and other identity details of the youth were revealed. "We came to know that the message was posted by a Mulavukkad native. As Mulavukkad comes under the Kochi City Police limit, Vaibhav got in touch with officials at the Mulavukad police station. In less than an hour after the message was posted, police officials from Mulavukad police station reached the house of the youth," the police officer said.

When the police team reached the house of the youth, he was getting ready to commit suicide by hanging himself. He had also procured poison in case his other attempts failed. "We spoke to his mother and later convinced him against killing himself. We first give a brief counselling. Later, we arranged psychological counselling sessions as part of his rehabilitation," the police officer said.

(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050, Tele Manas - 14416 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)