Drug addict attempts suicide by climbing Sanjay Gandhi Hosp roof; rescued safely

NEW DELHI: Upset over a family dispute, a 25-year-old drug addict climbed onto the roof of Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Delhi’s Mangolpuri area on Wednesday and threatened to commit suicide, but was rescued safely, officials said.

The man, identified as Rahul Mandal, has a history of substance abuse and had bruises all over his body. He was heavily intoxicated, drowsy and sweating profusely, making the rescue operation difficult as officers fear he may slip out of their grip when they try to pull him down from the six-storey building, the officials added.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Narra Chaitanya said, “He has some issues with his mother and father. He had been threatening to jump off the roof of Sanjay Gandhi Hospital.”

He said that despite being counselled, he didn’t come down. “We coordinated with the fire department and came up with a strategy to rescue him. We put a safety net and mattresses below so that our police team, fire team and private security guards, especially those from the hospital, could use it as a support system.”

The incident created panic among patients, visitors and staff and drew a large crowd of onlookers outside the hospital premises, who were watching with concern.

Delhi Fire Services (DFS) official Ajay Sharma said they received a call in the morning about a man being on the rooftop since last night.

“He is a drug addict. He was taking the names of a lot of drugs and was asking for an injection. There were bruises all over his body. There was sweat all over his body. It was a challenge for us to get him out of there,” he said.

“He was not wearing a shirt. There was a chance that his body would slip out of our hands. So we put a safety net underneath,” he said.

“Secondly, we tried to tie down his leg from the adjacent floor. We put a safety belt on top and lowered him. A firefighter jumped from the top and tied a safety net. He gripped him, but as we had thought, he slipped out of our grip. Luckily, his leg was tied from below. As we were tied from both sides, we pinned him to the wall for a long time. Slowly, we started loosening his grip and took him inside through the window below,” the DFS official added.

Sharma said that he was trying his level best to escape and wanted to jump. “He challenged us that if we put a net on one side, he would jump to the other side. It was a very challenging situation for us. Fortunately, we rescued him safely,” he said.

Rahul Mandal, a drug addict from Udhampur, broke into Sanjay Gandhi Hospital early Wednesday. Police rescued him; his father said no officers harmed him. Preventive measures will follow to avoid repeats.