In the wake of the drastically increasing incidents of suicides in the country and Assam in particular, Assam police launched a helpline number for suicide prevention. Statistics state that around 1,53,000 people died by suicide in India in 2020.
Representatives of the younger generation suffering from mental exhaustion and depression, as well as family members of students, can call the helpline number to report their issues and receive free assistance and guidance.
On Saturday, Guwahati Joint Commissioner of Police Parthasarathi Mahanta officially introduced the helpline number. Mahanta asked everyone to use the helpline number at a press conference held at the Guwahati Metropolitan Police Crime Branch office.
“It’s been three days since we introduced the toll-free lines, and we’ve already had a lot of crisis calls,” Mahanta added. “When we receive a call from someone experiencing suicidal thoughts or from their friends or family, we quickly dispatch our team, including therapists, to try to bring them back from the brink of suicide. We’ve also received calls from other states. And when we get calls from different states, we try to talk to them over the phone and convince them to get out of that mental state.”
“The number of suicides has been disturbingly increasing, and this is an effort to save them, to offer them some company, to lend them ears, to listen to them, and to get them out of that suicidal mental state,” Mahanta added. Mahanta has advised that if police forces in other states undertake more such measures, the country’s suicide rate will undoubtedly fall.
