People watch as man falls from the fourth floor of a building in Kerala

CCTV footage on TV channels shows an auto-rickshaw was parked near the spot where the man fell but the driver reversed his vehicle to ensure that it didn’t touch the bleeding victim and left.

Public apathy in Kerala’s Kochi came to the fore after a video showing passers-by turn a blind eye to a man who fell from the fourth floor of a building went viral on Monday.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the woman’s intervention to rush the man to hospital should be emulated by all. (PTI File Photo)

Two days ago, Palakkad-native Saji Anto fell off from the fourth-floor of a lodge near Padma Junction around 6.30 pm. Anto lay in a pool of blood for nearly 20 minutes as a large crowd gathered around him and vehicles passed by but no one tried to arrange any medical help for him.

CCTV footage showed that an auto-rickshaw was parked near the spot where Anto fell but the driver reversed his vehicle to ensure that it didn’t touch the bleeding victim and left.

Eventually, a woman passerby came forward to help him.

“He (Anto) was unconscious and bleeding profusely. Since I couldn’t lift him myself I had to appeal to the people who had gathered around to help me. We have to change this attitude. It seems people are afraid of helping accident victims as they are wary of a police case,” said Ranjini, an advocate in the Kerala high court.

Anto was admitted to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital and is currently in a critical condition.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed shock at passers-by’ apathy and urged everyone to emulate Ranjini’s action of helping those in need.

“What the advocate Ranjini done is really commendable. It is time people dump their fear that they will be victimised for rushing a victim to the hospital. People should shed their apathy and come forward to save lives,” the chief minister said in a social media post.