It was just another day at work for Sureshchandra Pandey who has been driving auto rickshaw in Mumbai for over three decades. That was until a passenger who just boarded his auto and told him that she wanted to commit suicide.

The Hindu

The incident happened on Friday evening when a 28-year-old girl hired Pandey's auto for a ride. She wanted to go to the nearest bus-stand.

But just minutes into the trip, she told Pandey that she wanted to jump into the sea.

"The girl told me to drop her off at Bandstand so that she could jump into the sea and never be found again. I first thought she was joking and laughed at her statement. However, she repeated the same thing several times during the journey, after which I became worried. I pulled over in Vile Parle and asked her what was wrong, and she told me that she had no one in the world and saw no reason to continue living,” The Hindu quoting Pandey reported.

Recovering from his initial shock, Pandey tried to reason with her, but to no avail.

Mumbaimag/ Representative Image

The girl originally from Delhi, was desperate after she recently lost her job. Her mother who had come to Mumbai that week had also left after a fight with her. She had boarded Pandey's auto after dropping her mother at the airport.

Governancenow

“I realised that if I refused to take her to Bandstand, she would only hail another auto, and the auto driver might not care. I had to think fast. I told her that I would take her to the Airport police station and that the police would be able to prevent her mother from boarding her flight. She agreed", Pandey said.

He informed the duty officer at Airport police station about the situation and the police acted quickly.

They took her to a hospital where she is being given counselling. Police said despite they informing the girl's mother about the situation, she refused to return.