Suicide is still rampant among youngsters, despite the fact that there are counsellors available to help them. They feel like they have lost the struggle of life and turn to the option that seems the easiest to them – kill themselves. Kids as young as 16-17 years-old have taken their own life because they couldn’t handle exam stress or were subjected to heart-wrenching trauma. But, one such girl decided to extend a plea for help.
The incident occurred in Indore at around 9 pm on Thursday, when Gyanendra Purohit and his wife Monica, who are counsellors and sign language experts with the Indore police, received a video call. Upon picking it up, they saw a girl who was standing with a dupatta around her neck.
The girl couldn’t speak but said through signs that it was her birthday and she was going to make it her “death day”. The counsellors were stunned and talked to the girl, who was from Rajasthan all through the night, all the while praying that the Internet does not disconnect. They even connected with other deaf and mute people from across the country, so the girl wasn’t left alone. They also learnt she had stolen a phone from a relative to make the call.
Purohit told Times Of India that the 26-year-old girl had asked them for help previously at 10 pm on Tuesday, March 13. Talking about how he and his wife had counselled her for two days, he said,
“She told me that she was raped by her father for 16 years before being forcibly married off. She was raped for the first time when she was only 10. I saw her standing on the bed with a dupatta around her neck.
It was tied to the ceiling fan. She kept conveying that she was going to commit suicide since we had not provided immediate help to her. I was shocked but kept communicating.”Â
This time the entire ordeal lasted about 14 hours, nonstop. The counsellors took turns talking to her but she never untied the noose from her neck. They managed to stall her long enough for Rajasthan police to identify her, track down her house in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district and break down the door to save her on Friday morning. But, it was not easy since the police seemed disinterested to take on the case.
Purohit then decided to take the help of Indore police to talk to their Rajasthan counterparts. The cops finally broke down the door 11.30 am on Friday, only to find that had they been a second late, the girl would have jumped and all the effort would have been for nothing.
The girl has now been sent to a woman’s shelter. We shudder to think what might have happened had the counsellors not given their all to help the girl. Kudos to both the counsellors who saved this girl’s life, through perseverance and patience.