Kerala man falls from building to indifferent bystanders, prompts CM to react
A man who fell from the third floor of a building near Padma junction in Kochi was lying on the ground for nearly 15 minutes amidst the on-looking crowd, before being saved and admitted to the hospital by a high court lawyer.
Saji, who hails from Thrissur, fainted and fell from a corridor of a Kochi lodge and was lying on the side of the road, even as shocked passers-by looked on without taking him to the hospital according to a report by Manorama.
The apathy of the bystanders even prompted the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to take to Facebook and ask the people of Kerala to help accident victims.
In the post, the Chief Minister informed citizens about provisions available to bystanders who help victims. He said, “bystanders should not be wary of admitting accident victims to hospitals as there are provisions under the law for them.”
The ‘Good Samaritan’ provisions that the Chief Minister is referring to are the guidelines provided by the Supreme Court to remove roadblocks that stop bystanders from intervening in case of road accidents and other such incidents.
The guidelines say that neither police nor hospitals can detain a good Samaritan who helps an accident victim by taking them to the hospital.
Further, a new provision will allow accident victims who are critical, 48 hours of free treatment. The post also reminded readers that saving the life of an accident victim or anybody else in a critical condition is indeed a noble gesture and encouraged readers to act sensitively and with initiative in such cases.
The incident also caught the attention of popular Malayalam actor Jayasurya, who took to Facebook to do a live video and spread awareness about helping accident victims in distress.
“Usually I only do a live to promote a video. However, this time it is to share a sad news. A man fell from a building in Kochi and it is really sad that none of the on-lookers did the basic, humane deed of taking him to the hospital,” he said.
Clarifying that he was not blaming the on-lookers, Jayasurya said, “There might be two things that went through people’s minds. One is that maybe he is lying there drunk. Because that’s how we usually tend to think. And the second reason is that people are scared to take responsibility, fearing that they will get embroiled in court cases and police station procedures,” he said.
Asking viewers to take this as a means to spread awareness, he also reiterated that saving a life is the most noble thing anyone can do.
“If it were for our parents or siblings, we wouldn’t hesitate even for a second to take them to a hospital. And we must be able to do the same for others,“ he said.