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Why college hostels are mulling suicide-proof fans

The debate has come back to the spotlight after an innovator from Mumbai raised funds for a safety fan rod on an Indian reality show
Last Updated 23 February 2022, 05:12 IST

A Mumbai-based innovator has come up with a fan rod that he says can prevent suicides.

Enquiries are coming in from Bengaluru households, electrical suppliers, and a hospital specialising in psychiatry, Sharad Ashani, the innovator, told Metrolife over email.

The product has reopened the debate on removing ceiling fans or altering their design to curb suicides on educational campuses. After his ideas were aired on an investment reality show, some on social media criticised it for overlooking the lack of adequate mental health support for students.

Metrolife dialled up colleges and mental health experts to weigh in on whether the removal or modification of ceiling fans holds any promise in suicide prevention.

‘Good intention’

The warden of a boys’ hostel at an engineering college in Kumaraswamy Layout feels “these are good measures”. “We are always in a panic mode, unsure of what students will do (sic),” he explains.

Archana Holakal works as an administrator-cum-counsellor at an institute of technology in Chikkabanavara. Even she welcomes the idea of suicide-prevention fans but wonders if colleges will be up for a “big investment” that replacing normal fans would incur.

Dr Ali Khwaja, chairman of Banjara Academy, a counselling centre, says the intention is good but impractical. “When people come to the stage of ending their life, they will find one way or the other. In the past, lakes have been cordoned off (to deter suicide attempts) but do these solutions work?” he asks. He says he hasn’t seen any institute make “long-term efforts to address mental health”, which should be the focus.

Neeta Periera, head of the department of psychology and counselling at an arts and science college in Langford Gardens, pans the idea as superficial and says we must instead “provide places and resources for students to articulate their emotions and cope with them.” (See box)

‘Means restriction matters’

Limited access to the means of suicide is high on the World Health Organization’s recommendations of evidence-based approaches to suicide prevention.

It has also been effective, says V Senthil Kumar Reddi, professor at the department of psychiatry at NIMHANS, and points to many case studies: A year-long WHO study found that limiting access to pesticides reduced suicides in a Tamil Nadu village. Restricting easy access to guns reduced gunshot-related deaths in Australia. The Samaritans, an organisation in the UK, pasted signboards with a suicide helpline number along the walkway to a cliff and it has saved lives. Cordoning one side of a popular bridge in the US has yielded similar results.

Dr Senthil explains how this helps, “For a majority of people, the idea to commit suicide comes up very suddenly. And taking away the easily accessible means opens a window of opportunity for them to rethink their decision.”

Nelson Vinod Moses, founder of Suicide Prevention India Foundation, doesn’t count the suicide-proof fan rod as “the perfect plan” but “if it can save one life, it is fine”, he says.

“If the rod comes undone, people may rethink their decision or take it as a sign that they were not meant to die. In such a case, it can act as a deterrent in the future,” he says.

Nelson, however, feels fan brands should at least carry a sticker on the ceiling fans, appended with the number of suicide helplines. “This may encourage help-seeking behaviour,” he feels.

Suicide by hanging

According to a 2019 National Crime Records Bureau report, 53.6% of suicides recorded were by hanging, followed by consuming poison. The 2020 report showed a jump in suicides, touching 57.8%.

Institutes that removed/altered ceiling fans

In December 2021, the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru decided to remove ceiling fans from their hostels. The move was met with student protest. In 2019, the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, was in news for installing a suicide-prevention device on their ceiling fans. In 2017, coaching institutes in Kota, a city in Rajasthan, were mulling installing springs in ceiling fans. Innovator Sharad Ashani said on the TV show that a campus of the Indian Institute of Management has installed his safety fan rods in a dorm following a suicide incident. He has also supplied these rods to a college in Karkala, a town in Udupi, he claimed over email. Dr V Senthil Kumar Reddi from NIMHANS says such dropdown fans have been adopted internationally too.

Call for help

NIMHANS: 080 4611 0007

Kiran: 1800 599 0019

Vandrevala: 99996 66555

Mpower: 1800 120 820050

AASRA: 98204 66726

iCall: 022 2552 1111

(Source: Suicide Prevention India Foundation)

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(Published 22 February 2022, 17:50 IST)

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