An Indian-American doctor, accused of deliberately driving his wife and two kids off a 250-foot California cliff in Tesla, will not be facing jail time and will instead receive mental health treatment, a US court said today, according to media reports.

The Gujarat-origin doctor suffers from a major depressive disorder and needs treatment, his lawyers had said earlier. 

Dharmesh Patel, a 42-year-old resident of Pasadena, Los Angeles, was driving with his wife and their two children, aged 7 and 4, when their car, a Tesla model, suddenly plummeted 250 feet into the Devil’s Slide abyss.

Initially, it was believed to be an accident caused by a tyre malfunction. However, after the charges levied by his wife, Patel faced three counts of family homicide and was remanded in custody.

The two psychologists, Dr Mark Patterson and Dr James Armontrout stated that Patel was suffering from ‘psychosis’, a mental illness, due to which he had a sudden mental breakdown and drove the car off the cliff.

Their report, presented in court, stated that Patel was under the delusion that someone was following him. He was constantly afraid that his children would be kidnapped for sex trafficking.

The psychologists submitted their testimony on Apr 24 in defence of Patel, asserting that “he was giving his all to save the family”.

(With inputs from syndicated feed)

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Gujarat-origin doctor who drove off cliff with family in US was ‘psychotic’