Mentally ill man jumps three floors, rescued

Bangalore: High drama unfolded at the residence of a BBMP Corporator in JP Nagar on Saturday morning, after a mentally unsound man armed with a knife scaled a coconut tree adjacent to his house and then clambered on to the roof, threatening to jump off.

Shakambarinagar ward corporator B. Somashekar, who also happens to be the chairman of the BBMP’s Major Works Committee, is a resident of JP Nagar IInd Phase near Ragi Gudda. Around 6 am the corporator saw an unidentified man wielding a knife and squatting on the edge of the sloping, tiled roof of his three-storey house.

For nearly three hours, Somashekar, his family and neighbours tried coaxing the man, who was reportedly dressed in a tattered t-shirt and shorts, to climb down. They asked what he wanted and why exactly he had climbed atop the roof. Some of the neighbours even attempted to climb the roof as well, while trying to talk to the man – believed to be in his 40s – and convincing him to come down.

The man was reportedly talking in Hindi, and refused to acknowledge everyone’s attempts to make him talk. He threatened to jump off the building if anyone came close to him; but police said he also refused to reveal his identity and his intentions.

The JP Nagar police were informed of the troublemaker around 9 am and they rushed to the spot. Carrying out the same drill in trying to talk the man out of jumping, they too failed to get through to the man. Subsequently, fire and emergency services personnel were called, and their initial approach was to put up ladders against the side of the house to climb to the roof and reach the man.

However, the mentally ill man is said to have threatened to stab himself if anyone came close to him or tried reaching him. The emergency services personnel had no option but to lay a huge safety net all around the house, in case the man decided to jump.

Meanwhile, members of the public also gathered at the scene and did their bit in trying to talk to the man, offering him food and money if he climbed down peacefully. Five hours into the drama, around 11 am, it became evident that the man was in no hurry to climb down. Two of the corporator’s friends repor­tedly climbed the roof to try and force the man to come down.

Tension escalated as the troublemaker allegedly tried to stab the duo, before finally leaping off the roof and landing in the safety net spread out by emergency services personnel on the ground.

He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital since he had sustained minor injuries in the incident. From there, he was shifted to Nimhans for further treatment, said the police.