16-year-old jumps off Vashi creek bridge, rescued

A 16-year-old boy from Wadala tried to commit suicide by jumping off Vashi creek bridge on Thursday night. However, owing to the low tide, he fell into a shallow part of the creek and was rescued by the fishermen of that area after almost five hours.

According to the police, the boy came to Vashi in a suburban train around 11pm and then jumped off the old bridge. The water, howver, was not deep enough and he didn’t drown even though no one was around to rescue him.

“Around 4am on Friday, some fishermen learnt about him and picked him up. He was unharmed and we did not have to admit him to the hospital,” said Kailash Wankhade, assistant inspector of Vashi police station.

The police later informed his family about the incident. His father, a tailor by profession, came to Vashi and took him home.

When asked about the reason behind the suicide attempt, Wankhade said, “The boy was asking for money from his father to celebrate his birthday, but he did not get it. That was probably why he tried to commit suicide. We have not registered any case.”

The police said that around 20 people had jumped off the Vashi creek bridge to commit

suicide in the past one year. A majority of them were rescued by the fishermen.

“We have written to the public works department to install CCTV cameras on the bridges and put steel nets above the railings. We think this is a crucial step for preventing suicide on the bridges,” said one police officer from Vashi police station.