Blue Whale game death: Why cops should take teen suicides more seriously

The last picture was taken by a 16yearold girl from Texas United States on the roof of her house before she jumped to her deathWhy are teenagers suicides not taken seriously by law enforcement agencies as well as autopsy surgeons thats the burning question with the last few days seeing a spate of such cases worrying medical practitioners including forensic experts and psychiatrists They feel that the circumstances behind such deaths should be ascertained and the cases seriously probed in the larger interest of societyThe last photo posted by 14yearold Manpreet Sahans minutes before flinging himself off the terrace in AndheriJuly 18Eighteenyearold son of an IASofficer couple allegedly leapt to his death from Dhariya Mahals terraceJuly 29Manpreet Sahans 14 jumped to death from the terrace of his building in SherePunjab Andheri EastJuly 30Pramugdha Jhanwar 20 a literature student consumed 62 sleeping pills and committed suicide in an Andheri highriseAugust 1Sixteenyearold Jyoti Sharma fell from the 27th floor of Mayflower Hiranandani Meadows Thane but its not clear if she jumped or fellAlsoread Blue Whale game suicide Teachers remember Andheri teen who took his lifeIndepth analysis neededIn all the recent cases the one thing common is that neither the police nor the family could come across any clue to ascertain the exact circumstances that compelled the teens to take the drastic step Even the autopsy surgeons have not gone beyond the routine postmortem to assist the police in ascertaining the circumstances said Dr Indrajit Khandekar professor and incharge of Clinical Forensic Medicine Unit at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences Sewagram WardhaThe irony is that all autopsies are conducted as per provisions laid under section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code and as per the order from the police only to ascertain the cause of the death nothing beyond itAlso read Why Blue Whale game cant be banned despite CM Devendra Fadnavis assuranceThe need of the hour is to bring amendments to the existing provisions in CrPC which is almost 119 years old And in cases where there appears a suicide trend in a certain age group with no specific reasons to end life law enforcement agencies should take them seriouslyWith teenagers being exposed to drugs and other addictions including online gaming it is crucial that the autopsy surgeon with the assistance of a psychologistpsychiatrist and the investigating officer go beyond hisher call of duty and conduct an indepth probe by carrying out a psychological autopsy study circumstances around the death and find out any addictions behind the act said Dr KhandekarAlso read How the Blue Whale game brainwashes kidsDr Khandekar has submitted a detailed 82page report to the Prime Ministers Office and the Union Home Ministry which is presently being studied by the Law Commission of India so that necessary amendments can be made to the CrPC and Indian Evidence Act Dr Khandekar has also submitted in detail the functioning of autopsy centres across 42 countries where autopsy surgeons work closely with other agencies a trend missing in IndiaSurgeons must do moreDr Shailesh Mohite professor and head of the department of forensic medicine at Nair medical college is of a similar view Even if the police dont insist on preserving blood or viscera for chemical analysis or any other scientific evaluation autopsy surgeons should preserve the same to rule out probabilities in unexpected and unexplained circumstantial deaths he opinedIt is in the larger interest of the society that the autopsy surgeon evaluates such unexplained suicides Also preventive measures should be taken if any trend is witnessed to prevent similar deaths in the futureDr Mohite gave the example of the Versova sibling deaths case of Rehab and Rameez Chougle which is still unsolved with even the manner of death suicidal homicidal or accidental a mystery even nowDr Sanjay Kumavat a psychiatrist who has worked closely with the government on its mental health policy said simply ascertaining the cause of death wasnt the only role of autopsy surgeons and that they needed to take the assistance of mental health professionals to understand the underlying psychological reasons behind the individuals extreme step