Mumbai: Woman kills self in front of one-year-old daughter in Borivli

Pic/Hanif Patel

In a shocking incident, a woman committed suicide in front of her one-year-old baby daughter. The victim's body was found hanging from the ceiling fan and the baby was apparently crying, holding the legs of her mother.

The deceased was identified by her family as Jyoti Pankaj Avasarkar (29) who was staying with her husband, in-laws and two daughters, aged four and one in a flat on the 6th Floor Pranam Co-operative Housing Society, Chikuwadi, Borivli West.

According to the police, Avasarkar committed suicide by hanging from the ceiling fan in the kitchen on Tuesday afternoon. Her father-in-law MD Shah and her one-year-old daughter were inside the flat at the time of the incident, while her husband was at work, brother-in-law, mother-in-law and her four-year-old daughter had stepped out.

When Shah, who is paralysed, heard his grand-daughter cry, he dragged himself into the kitchen but was unable to help. He, however, managed to open the door, come down to the podium of the building taking the elevator and informed the watchman, named Ashok Yadav, who later alerted the neighbours. They later called and informed the police.

The reason for Avasarkar committing suicide is still unknown as no suicide note was found from the site of the incident. Yadav told the police that Shah had come down and as he could not speak properly due the paralysis. "When he tried to explain by putting his hand on the neck, initially I thought he wanted to shave his beard, but when I asked again, he gestured with both hands in a way that he wanted to say that someone has committed suicide," Yadav said. He immediately rushed to the flat taking Shah in the elevator and alerted the neighbours. A police officer from Borivli police station said that Yadav told them Avasarkar's body was hanging from the ceiling and with her one-year-old daughter crying, holding her legs.

After conducting the panchnama (collection of evidence from the crime scene), another police officer said that they have registered a case of accidental death and sent the body for an autopsy, with further investigation in process.

As the family is in trauma, the police could not speak to them in details. Initial reports of the investigation suggest that there was an ongoing dispute between the family. It was also revealed Shah had married twice, his second wife was staying with him in the flat. Avasarkar's husband Pankaj, who works with a private firm was a child from Shah's first marriage.

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