Maharashtra: Cops avert suicide of med student in Pune thanks to Interpol alert

An alert from Interpol helped the Mumbai Crime Branch prevent the suicide of a first-year Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS) student based in Pune last week.

The crime branch's crime intelligence unit (CIU) reached Pune within two hours of receiving the information and took the 22-year-old student to a counsellor. According to officials, the student was depressed due to personal and academic reasons.

The student had been consulting with a US-based website named Veterans regarding depression and during the conversation, he said that he wanted to die and asked for the name of a drug that could bring about a peaceful death.

"He talked to the counsellors for close to 3.5 hours and was very depressed about his academic life and personal issues. The counsellor gave him advice and took down his details, but meanwhile, he kept asking about medicines for a peaceful death," an officer said.

Also Read: Salman Khan threat case: ‘Agla number tera hai, tu kabhi Jodhpur aake dikha'

The people running the website, while conversing with the student, informed the authorities concerned, who alerted Interpol and an emergency request was sent to its Indian counterparts and eventually shared with the crime branch so they could avert any drastic situation.

"We went to work based on the information, and after getting the details of the person, a team was dispatched to Pune on Friday," the officer added.

Meanwhile, another CIU team gathered information about the individual, including his mobile number. Upon investigation, they discovered that he was a first-year BHMS student studying in Pune. The team promptly went to the college and found that he was taking his practical exam.

Afterwards, CIU officers met with the hospital's dean and arranged for the student to be called to the latter's office, where he was given counselling and his family was notified of the situation.

According to officials, the student's family members indicated that he had experienced difficulties during his NEET exams but had been normal since being admitted to the college.

"In a timely manner, the CIU officers arrived in Pune and detained the student before he could take any further action. The officers also discovered that the student had been unwell and that his friends were aware of his struggles with depression related to academic pressure," an official said.

24
Day in March when incident occurred