Tourists at Ward’s Lake. Picture by Eastern Projections

Shillong, Feb. 20: Ward’s Lake, one of Shillong’s most picturesque landmarks, is haunted by the shadow of death.

Wednesday’s suicide by two lovers is just one more in such a series. This lake, a favourite haunt of picnickers and starstruck lovers, has become a veritable watery grave for Shillongites suffering from depression.

On the day of Mahashivratri, Tulsi Devi, a young woman of Manipuri descent, left her home in the afternoon to join in the festive revelry with her lover Ukhol Borgohain. The youth was of Assamese origin and employed with the fire brigade.

The two could not be found since evening and it was only after a frantic search that Ukhol’s colleagues recovered their bodies with the help of barbed wire.

Tulsi’s neighbours said, “She didn’t seem the type who would commit suicide”. Having lost her father some years back, the girl lived with her mother — who eked out her living as a grocer — and her brother, a driver.

Though a college dropout, Tulsi had been working for a while before pursuing a specialised course for which she was to appear for an examination in April.

Sadar police station records show at least five suicide cases occur at Ward’s Lake every year. As an exasperated police official remarked, “The lake has become a headache for us. Despite police patrolling outside the Lake and posting a chowkidar within the grounds, there seems to be no stopping the suicides.”

Adding bathos to the grim trend, he further said, “One of our own constables committed suicide at the lake some months back.”

Depression has always been a key factor in such fatalities. A senior academician said a lawyer friend of his had fallen prey to the same syndrome 11 years back.

The academician also wondered why his colleague’s wife, who was in her late twenties, had chosen the same misè en scene to drown herself.

The fact that the lake is located right in the heart of the city and often deserted at certain times of the day makes it a popular destination for suicides.

But psychiatrist Sandy Syiem dismissed any suggestion that the latest instance is indicative of an ever-increasing trend among young people.

“Suicide has been there since time immemorial and more often than not is a consequence of an individual’s frustrations. Even if parental opposition is one of the factors that drives young couples to commit suicide, that may not be the only reason that impels the younger generation to take such an impulsive decision,” Syiem added.

According to him, suicidal acts always happen on the spur of the moment and are never premeditated. It is often an attempt to romanticise the affair that drives young people to end their lives.

Ward’s Lake has proved to be a fatal attraction for quite a few Shillongites, luring, among others, former Khasi Students’ Union president Banshan Nongbet. Just what makes it so alluring to depressed souls is anybody’s guess, but the fact remains that Ward’s Lake is not just a lovers’ paradise — it is their graveyard as well.