In a swift action, Fire and Emergency Services personnel rescued a 37-year-old woman in the nick of time while she was attempting to end her life along with five-year-old son on Wednesday.
Fireman Venkataram, along with his colleagues Venkatagowda and Muniraju, broke open the door and pounced on the woman before she could light a matchbox after opening the knob of the LPG cylinder. The personnel dragged the woman and the child out of the apartment and opened the windows and doors of the apartment to let the gas out.
The incident occurred around 8.30 am on Wednesday when all the policemen and fire personnel were busy at the Janaspandana programme of Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar in K.R. Puram on Wednesday. The victim Tamil Selvi, a resident of Shreenidhi Alpines Apartment, Nagondanahalli, locked the flat from the inside, and shut all doors and windows with her son Ashwath, 5 inside, after a fight with her husband and his family.
Even after repeated attempts to get her to open the door, she did not budge and threatened to blow herself up. Her husband rushed to the fire station and requested Venkataramu, who was in charge at the station, for help. As the fire rescuers reached the spot along with Whitefield Police, they sensed danger as they smelt LPG gas coming from inside the flat. They broke open the door and rescued the woman before she could light the matchstick.
The rescued woman was taken to the police station for counselling. The woman had been under mental stress and needs treatment, a senior police officer said.
(Those in distress or having suicidal tendencies can call Arogya Sahayavani on 104 for help).
