17-year-old attempts suicide twice

He was upset with warden at the childrens home

Fed up with getting no response about grievances from authorities of After Care Children Home, a 17-year-old boy tried to commit suicide twice within half an hour in its premises at Alipur in outer Delhi on Tuesday night.

Rohit Raj tried to kill himself at around 7:45 pm, first by drinking a poisonous substance and then by hanging himself. One his friends saw this and rescued him.

The nurse of the children home along with other staff rushed Rohit Raj, who was staying there for last one year, to Raja Harish Chandra Hospital where he is undergoing treatment.

A victim’s friend said a female welfare officer did not provide inmates with enough food and ignored their grievances on a daily basis.

“Forget about counselling, she did not even hear us and punish us without any reason. We have approached superintendent and police officials but they have been of no help,” he said.

Before taking the extreme step, Raj went to Alipur police station to register a complaint against the welfare officer.

But police did not listen to him. Depressed, he returned and drank the poisonous substance.

He told one his friends about this and locked himself inside a room.

“We received a call from a hospital at around 8:10 pm that a boy in a suspicious condition has been brought to the hospital. We rushed to the hospital as well as to the children home,” said an investigating officer.

The victim is still unfit for a statement. However, we are investigating the reason behind such an extreme step, the officer added.