Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (EP)

Kundapur, Apr 22: A 70-year-old man, who jumped into a river to commit suicide as he was depressed in life, miraculously survived. Suprised that he is still alive, now he says he will never attempt suicide again.

Kariappa, a resident of Vidyanagar in Haveri has done BA LLB. He had worked for a sugar factory for nearly 22 years and is retired now. He has wife, two daughters and a son. While his daughters are married, his son is a leader of a national political party.

Kariappa, who got angry for some trivial reason, left his house with Rs 500 and travelled from Haveri to Mangaluru by bus. After a day in Mangaluru at the bus stand, he boarded a bus to Sirsi without even having breakfast. But as he did not have sufficient money, he could only buy a ticket to Kundapur. On the way towards Sirsi, he asked the conductor to stop the bus near Tallur bridge and got down there.

Kariappa then climbed the Tallur bridge and jumped into the river below. The locals who were at the spot informed the police immediately. Though many people tried to save Kariappa when he fell in the water, he had gone far in the current of water. It took nearly 45 minutes for the police and people to locate Kariappa with the help of fishermen.

When they finally reached the spot, Kariappa was seen floating face up. They assumed him to be dead but he was breathing normally. Kariappa asked them in astonishment "Am I not dead?".

The police after rescuing Kariappa informed his family. Speaking to the reporters, Kariappa assured that he would not take such a step in the future. "Once we get entangled with worldly things, we are bound to face worries and tensions. At this age, I did not have the courage and willingness to face these problems. Somehow I was fed up with life and decided to end it. But now I have resolved to never attempt this again," he said.

People were surprised to see that he was well versed in English as he narrated his experience. The locals were astonished by the fact that he was in the water for nearly 45 minutes trying to end his life, and yet managed to survive.