On the Tracks, Holding her Kids, Waiting to Die

Reading the Sun newspaper in KL and found a sad story. There was a diagram that showed the path of a young mother, who walked with her three kids down a street, around a hedge, and onto the train tracks, just ahead of a big curve. You can guess what happened, but it wasn't clear when the story was published that it was a suicide, not an accident.

Today's paper here in Malacca included a tearful interview with the train engineer, who said he tried to stop as the commuter train rounded the curve, and approached the young woman who sat with her back to the train, clutching her three small kids. Then an interview with the grieving husband, who said that yes, they had had an argument, it was a bad one, but never, ever did he think she'd do that. Then more details about Monday's accident, including that one of her daughters managed to wriggle free and tried to drag her brother away from her mother's clutches. But the little boy's head got hit by the train, and now he is in the hospital with dim hopes. Then another story about a proposal to ban the scenes in Bollywood movies that depict these kinds of suicides. Because when a depressed young mom sees a movie showing such an act, she too might be inspired to die in this terrible way.