Mumbai woman attempts suicide; loses her 4-year-old daughter instead

In a bid to commit suicide, a 30-year-old woman from Bhandup ended up losing her four-year-old daughter at Shivaji Lake in Bhandup early Thursday morning.

Pic/Siddharth Dhadve

According to the Bhandup police, Vaidehi Gavkar had constant fights with her drunkard husband Vinayak and decided to end her life. Police said that Vinayak works as an accountant with local pathpedi and due to his addiction there were constant arguments between the couple.

Suicide gone awry: In the wee hours of Thursday, a suicidal Vaidehi Gavkar goes to Shivaji Lake near her Bhandup house. Seeing that her daughter Divyani has followed her all the way to the lake, she stays by the bank, wondering what to do next. Illustrations/Amit Bandre

In the early hours of Thursday, Gavkar sent an SMS to her sister who stays in Devgad and left a note for her husband, telling them that she was going to kill herself.

After waiting for over an hour, Gavkar suddenly plunges into the water, heedless that the child is looking on. The four-year-old almost immediately jumps in after her

At 4 am, Gavkar began walking towards Shivaji Lake close to her house, not knowing that her four-year-old daughter Divyani was chasing her.

Realising that Divyani is in the water, Gavkar wades towards her, despite being a non-swimmer. She catches hold of the end of a stray rope tethered to the land, drifting in the water. By daybreak, locals gather at the spot and rush the two to hospital, but Divyani has stopped breathing. Cops book Gavkar for causing her child's death by negligence and for trying to kill herself.

"When Gavkar reached the lake she got confused on spotting her daughter. Not knowing what to do, she remained on the banks for more than an hour, as her daughter was not ready to budge. Then in a split moment, Gavkar jumped into the lake," said Senior Inspector Shrirang Nadgauda of Bhandup police station.

"The four-year-old was so shocked with her mother's act that even she jumped into the water. While Gavkar was drowning, she realised that her daughter had also jumped into the lake after her. Though a non-swimmer, Gavkar struggled through the water and caught hold of her drowning daughter. Luckily, the mother got the support of a rope and with the other hand she held on to her daughter, looking for help, not knowing that Divyani had stopped breathing" Nadgauda said.

The mother and daughter remained in the water till seven in the morning, until someone from the locality spotted the two, cops said. When locals gathered at the spot, the two were brought out of the water.

"All the while Gavkar did not lose hope and hung on to the rope to save her daughter, but the efforts went in vain," said a police officer.

Meanwhile, Gavakar's sister and husband Vinayak read the suicide messages she had left them and began searching for her. When Vinayak and the police reached Shivaji Lake, they found Gavkar at the spot.

During interrogation, Gavkar narrated the story to the police, following which an FIR was registered against her. She has been booked under sections 304A (causing death by negligence) and 309 (attempted suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.u00a0