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Mangalore: Five Members of a D'Souza family
attempted suicide and are currently in the ICU of a
private hospital, thanks to the timely action of
neighbours. The five members lived near Peddeyangadi,
Padupadav, Katipalla in Surtkal. Those admitted to the
hospital in serious condition have been identified as
Henry D'Souza (70) and his wife Leticia DıSouza (65),
their son Jossy D'Souza (32), daughters Anitha D'Souza
(35) and Savitha D'Souza (26). They were found in a
precarious condition when their neighhours opened the
doors of their house.
One of the relatives who came to the hospital said, the
family has been facing a grave financial crisis. One of
the daughters of Henry named Sunitha got married
recently in a mass marriage function. The family found
it difficult even to conduct this marriage, as it could
hardly pool enough money to meet the bare minimum
expenditure involved in the mass marriage. The family
lives in a small house and there has also been a
longstanding dispute over its ownership between their
relatives and the family, said the relative. The doctor
in the hospital said that the family members had
consumed an overdose of sleeping pills and is now out of
danger. The family members have now been shifted to the
intensive care unit of the hospital after the
preliminary treatment. Henry D'Souza used to work under
contract for the railways. Jossy is working in a private
company.
Though Jossy has been the bread winner of the family,
his earning is meager. The police personnel from
Suratkal station visited the hospital, only to add to
the anguish. The incident, leads one to ask - What is
the Christian family or Who is my neighbour ? What is
the efficacy of our associations or is it that we are
spending on others, at the cost of our own. Do we have
moral right to splurge or live in comfort, especially
when our dear brothers and sisters are in deep penury?
However what is worse, is that this is not an isolated
incident, there are many throughout the country,
prefering to die, than fight the establishment or beg
before the community.
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