MARGAO, NOV 4
Five cases, three deaths in the last eight days. That’s the alarming number of deaths due to ratol consumption reported at government-run Hospicio hospital, showing a surge in cases of ratol consumption as a means to commit suicide.
If the death of young Loutolim woman, Nadia Torrado due to ratol paste consumption brought to the fore the lethal nature of the rodent killing paste, ratol appears to be increasingly used by the young and middle aged persons to end life.
Says Dr Doreen Dias, Psychiatrist, attached to Hospicio hospital: “In the past, doctors were called upon to treat attempted suicide cases relating to overdose. But, people tend to take ratol to take drastic steps. This is indeed an alarming situation and needs to be addressed on a priority basis”.
Dr Dias said the victims, in some case, were unaware the lethality of the consumption of ratol paste. “Doctors are helpless when suicide victims with consumption of one or two ratol pastes. There are chances of survival in overdose cases, but not vis-à-vis ratol consumption”, she added.
Another Hospicio doctor attributed the surge in ratol cases to the copy cat syndrome after the much-publicised death of the Loutolim woman.
Ratol has claimed a young married woman from Sao Jose de Areal, besides a young girl in the last three days. Thursday saw the admission of a 40-year old man from South Goa rushed to Hospicio after consuming two tubes of ratol paste. Incidentally, the hospital did not witness many cases in the last 2-3 months, but the sudden surge has raised many an eyebrow.
In the case of the Sao Jose de Areal woman, the suicide note stated that the victim was fed up of life and refused to blame anyone for her decision.
Says Dr Doreen: “During counseling, we have come across many cases relating to family conflicts and minor domestic quarrels. Probably, many a victim did not even know that ratol is lethal in nature”.
Blame it on copy cat suicide syndrome after the much-publicised Nadia Torrado death case, a Hospicio doctor said the government can certainly think of banning or restricting the sale of ratol in the open market. “But, that is a policy decision for the government to take. Similar decisions have been taken in some countries, restricting the sale of pesticides in the open”, the doctor added.
