A senior citizen caused a flutter at the Arakkonam railway station after he climbed atop the roof of an empty electrical multiple unit (EMU) train and attempted to commit suicide on Thursday night. However, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel rescued the 68-year-old resident of Cuddalore by getting the power supply turned off.
A senior official of the RPF in Chennai division said M. Illangovan, a resident of Kattumannar Koil near Cuddalore, climbed atop an empty EMU parked on Platform No. 7. Even as the RPF staff on patrol duty asked Mr. Illangovan to get down, he said said that he wanted to commit suicide and started running on the roof of the EMU and tried to reach the overhead power line. In a swift action, the RPF staff Jitendra Meena alerted the railway staff who turned off the power supply. The RPF staff caught the person and brought him down.
The railway official said the senior citizen was later admitted to the Arakkoanam Government Hospital for minor injuries. Due to the incident, Cheran express got delayed by more than 20 minutes.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available at Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050).
