Trigger warning: this article contains material related to suicide and mental illness. Discretion is advised.
The climax of the Malayalam short film Chilappol Daivam (Sometimes God) leaves one thinking of unintentional cyber-bullying - that stray comment or even emoji. The short is a cautionary tale about behaviour in the virtual space and how a careless comment has the power to kill a human being. The cyberbullying of Dr Anoop Krishna, a Kollam-based orthopaedic surgeon, who took his own life in 2020, shaped the story. The film is a tribute to the doctor. The provocation for the bullying and abuse was the death of a seven-year-old patient on whom he was performing surgery.
“We need to think about how we treat doctors in our country. Unfortunately, such cases are happening with frightening regularity. This could be anybody’s story,” says Edinburgh-based software engineer and director, Vishnu Raj. He is referring to the case of the Lucknow gynaecologist who died by suicide under similar circumstances as Dr Anoop. He adds that such a scenario is unthinkable in Scotland.
