World Suicide Prevention Day Rally held at Mangaluru

Mangaluru: The Susheg Charitable Trust (R) which runs a 24×7 Suicide Lifeline in Mangaluru organised a rally called ‘Walk for Life’ from St. Aloysius College gate to Nehru Maidan on September 10, World Suicide Prevention Day, to bring about awareness of the crisis proportions toward which suicides are heading, and to popularize the 24×7 Suicide Lifeline 0824 -2983444, which was started last year.

Despite the Bharath Bundh called for by the Congress and other national opposition parties to protest against the rising fuel prices, which began from 9 am, the turnout from among volunteers, concerned citizens and college students, was huge. Before the flag off at St. Aloysius College, two individuals who had previously attempted suicide due to their life’s circumstances addressed the rallyists and gave uplifting messages. Shilpa of Hallimane Rottis fame said that suicide is not the answer. She herself had attempted it twice when she was in dire life circumstances after the death of her husband with no income to fall back on. But she survived and today she is a success, with her homemade Akki Rottis famous even beyond Mangalore. She said, “you must give yourself a chance”. Simon D’Souza too, a survivor after debilitating leprosy gave the same message of hope. Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil flagged of the rally but before doing so, he addressed the gathering. ” We get so many cases these days, that initiatives such as these are important for society”. He promised that the administration would work with, and support the cause in all ways possible.

The rally wound its way from Light house hill to the Football ground on Nehru Maidan in a disciplined manner with the message “Suicide is not the answer” reverberating throughout the rally. Commissioner of Police T R Suresh, who was to be the chief guest, could understandably not make it due to the prevailing law and order circumstances. Abdul Rauf Puthige, a renowned builder (Vishwas Bawa Builders) and philanthropist, and the guest of honour on the day gave the large gathering at Nehru Maidan the message that life is a gift which we must all preserve. Later, he released the auto and bus stickers prepared in public interest by Newskarnataka.com and Karnataka Today, a popular pan Karnataka news web portal and English monthly magazine respectively, to popularize and ensure recall of the suicide helpline No 0834 -2093444. These stickers would now appear on buses and autos in the city with their owner’s permission according to the organisers.

Placards creatively prepared by students of various colleges – and there were many – were judged by a jury of three and three prizes were awarded to the best placards on the day. AJ Hospital took away the first prize while St Aloysius came second and Nitte came third. Puthige gave away the awards. A spot game – quickest SMS of the text “Suicide Lifeline No: 2983444” – to create awareness about the suicide helpline and its number was also held and won by Trisha D’Souza.

Dr. Derek Lobo delivered the vote of thanks. Patsy Lobo and Canute Pinto anchored the rally announcements from the start to the finish, while Ratna Pinto and Vasanth Shetty of Saanidhya Special School anchored the stage programme at Nehru Maidan.