In a bizarre incident, one Reham Khan in National Zoological Park in Delhi jumped into a lion’s enclosure after climbing its metal grille, apparently to commit suicide. When the zoo officials rushed to the spot, they provided a ladder to Reham, and implored him to return back, he turned a blind to their requests and continued approaching towards the Lion. The youth was subsequently rescued from the enclosure after the officials tranquilised the lion.
#WATCH Delhi: A man entered into enclosure of a lion at Delhi Zoo after climbing its metal grille. He was later brought out safely. DCP(Southeast)says “He’s Rehan Khan, a 28-yr-old man from Bihar. He seems to be mentally unstable.He was immediately brought out without any injury” pic.twitter.com/t5n6bfPx7p
— ANI (@ANI) October 17, 2019
In the video attached in the above tweet, one can see how serenely Reham goes and sits in front of the lion, purportedly striking a conversation with it. He then lies down next to the lion.
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According to Riyaz Ahmed Khan, PRO, National Zoological Park, Delhi, even after repeated exhortations from guards and zoo officials, Reham did not heed their appeals saying “I have come to die, don’t rescue me”. The lion managed to escape Harambe’s fate as the authorities sedated it before evacuating the trapped man. DCP Southeast Delhi stated that the man appeared to be suffering from a mental illness.
This incident bears striking resemblance to the famous incident when a three-year-old climbed an into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden in the USA and was grabbed and dragged by Harambe, a 17-year-old western lowland gorilla. Dreading for boy’s life, a zoo worker had shot and killed Harambe. The incident made headlines across the world as the recorded video received broad international coverage, and stoked controversy over the choice to kill Harambe instead of tranquilising.
