Man who jumped off 8th floor of Kolkata hospital dies

Kolkata, June 25 Sujit Adhikari, a man suffering from depression who jumped off the eighth floor of the Institute of Neurosciences in Kolkata on Saturday morning, succumbed to his injuries at around 8 pm here.

Earlier on Saturday morning, Adhikari slipped out of the window of the hospital room and sat on the cornice. Desperate attempts by the state fire service personnel and disaster management officials to rescue him failed as finally he jumped off the eighth floor.

A profusely bleeding Adhikari was rushed to the emergency division of the hospital where he was operated upon. However, all the efforts proved fruitless.

It is learnt that Adhikari's wife died of cancer just a month back and since then he went into depression and resorted to heavy alcohol consumption. All his savings was spent for the treatment of his wife and he even had to borrow money to continue her treatment.

Adhikari himself was an epileptic patient. He fell down in the washroom of his house on June 23 following an epileptic attack after which he was admitted to the Institute of Neurosciences. He was supposed to be discharged on Saturday.

Meanwhile, there is confusion over the exact time when Adhikari slipped out of the window and climbed on to the cornice. While the hospital authorities put the time at 10 am, some eyewitnesses said that he was first seen on the cornice at 8 am.

If the eyewitnesses are correct, the question that arises is why did it take two hours for the fire services personnel to reach the spot.

West Bengal Fire Minister Sujit Basu said that a detailed inquiry will be conducted into the matter.