141 people lost their lives unable to bear the trauma of the loss of their leader

Hyderabad, Sept. 4: In an unprecedented show of love for any politician in the history of Independent India, 141 people lost their lives unable to bear the trauma of the loss of their leader, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.

While 115 people died of cardiac failure another 26 committed suicide.

Alarmed at the number of deaths, the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, and Dr Reddy’s son, Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, repeatedly appealed to people to maintain restraint and not to resort to extreme steps.

Psychiatrists explained the unprecedented number of deaths to the slow building up of mental trauma and suppression of emotions.

The news of Dr Reddy’s copter disappearing was flashed at noon on Wednesday, traumatising his admirers and supporters.

They continued to remain in this state for almost 24 hours before Dr Reddy’s death was confirmed.

“People are attracted to leaders not only by their policies and programmes, but also by their personality, the way they speak, dress and talk to them. This creates a sort of hero worship and when something tragic happens, they cannot bear the loss. This leads to mass hysteria,” said senior psychiatrist Dr Yerra Sridhar Raju.

Had the news broken suddenly, he says, "people would have resorted to violence. They would have made someone the object of their attack.”