Relatives blame depression for teen’s behaviour

RELATIVES of an 18-year-old boy who allegedly tried to take his own life on Tuesday attributed his action to depression and peer pressure.

The teenager, who jumped off San Fernando Hill, remains warded at the San Fernando General Hospital in a stable condition.

Close relatives said he became very quiet lately and they had been worried about him.

“Although we were aware that he has problems, we did not expect this to happen,” a relative, who preferred to remain unnamed, said. The relative said teenagers today are caught in their own world and make drastic decisions that can cause pain and problems to their family.

The relative said while they tried to monitor the whereabouts of the teenager, they could not keep up with all that was happening in recent times. Friends and relatives visited him at the hospital yesterday. The teenager reportedly told police he and his girlfriend had an argument before his fall, and while on San Fernando Hill, he was standing at the edge of a cliff, deep in thought. He said because of the rainy weather and loose soil, he slipped and tumbled to the foot of the hill.

Police said a group of forestry division officers who were working on the hill heard the commotion and contacted police and fire officers. The young man was found near the Olera Heights Housing Development.

PC Bicano of the Mon Repos Police Station is leading investigations.