'Help me or I will commit suicide’: Delhi woman's email to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson

An email from a 43-year-old Delhi-based woman to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Wednesday night, in which she wrote she would “commit suicide” set panic at the Delhi Police headquarters. Police said she sent the mail at 11 pm. “I am distressed… If somebody doesn’t come to help me, I will commit suicide in the next 2 hours,” read the mail, in which the woman had also written her address and phone number.

DCP (Rohini) PK Mishra said the mail was immediately sent to the Indian Embassy in London by the British PMO, who then contacted the Ministry of External Affairs in India. MEA officials called the Delhi Police Command Room and the PHQ, following which details were shared with the area police.“I received a call and an email at 1 am. We were told to rescue the woman as soon as possible. The number mentioned in the mail was working but the woman didn’t take our calls. We sent teams to locate her through her number… but time was an issue. SHO of Aman Vihar police station went to Sector 21 Rohini with a team to find her,” said the DCP.

As the address in the email wasn’t complete, the team checked over 40 houses in the locality. “We sent her texts, alerted residents and asked security guards for help. We then found a house where the owner wasn’t opening the gate,” said a policeman who was part of the team.Police said the team then heard a woman shouting “please go away” and then called Delhi Fire Services to break the gate and main door. The team then entered the house and found the woman standing in the hall. “The house was a mess and smelt of cat litter. There were more than 16 cats inside… The woman was shocked to see us and started apologising,” said the personnel. The team realised the woman wasn’t mentally stable and called constable Anita to talk to her. “She started crying and said her cats are her family. I tried to console her. I asked about her husband and family… she said she’s divorced and has lived alone for over 10 years. She worked as an MCD teacher but quit 2-3 years ago,” said constable Anita.Police also called two psychologists and doctors to help the woman, helped clean the house and encouraged her to eat and take a bath. “She felt better in the morning and told us she mailed the UK PM as she wanted help to repay her loans, house bills and rent…,” said a senior officer.