Woman runs hysterically on road after son's suicide, cars knocks her down

Traumatised by the suicide of her college-going son, a 39-year-old woman hysterically ran on a busy street in Vijayanagar, West Bengaluru, only to be mowed down by a car.

The tragic turn of events unfolded on Tuesday, just two hours after 20-year-old Mohan Gowda reportedly hanged himself at home in Marenahalli around 11 am.

A first-year BCom student, he was declared dead by doctors at a hospital at 12.33 pm.

The news of her son's death disturbed Leelavathi so much that she started wailing and ran hysterically into the busy road in front of the hospital. Her younger son Jayanth and sister-in-law Vijayalakshmi managed to bring her back to the hospital but she would just not sit still. She eventually freed herself and ran out, bumping into an oncoming car on a service road of the West of Chord Road around 1 pm. The car driver was caught off guard and ended up running her over.

Ironically, bystanders rushed a grievously injured Leelavathi to the same hospital which she had left minutes ago. Doctors declared her dead on arrival.

Two separate cases have been registered over the incidents. While Vijayanagar police opened a case of unnatural death over Gowda's suicide, their traffic counterparts have registered a case of rash and negligent driving causing death against the car driver, Hemanth Kumar D, 24, of Kundapur.

Police said although Leelavathi was at fault because she deliberately ran into the car, the driver should still have been careful to avoid the accident.

According to police, Gowda had fought with two of his friends just before the suicide. He had returned home from college when the friends followed him and quarrelled with him, accusing him of stealing their motorbike. He got so upset that he stormed into his bedroom and locked himself in.

Seeing all this, Leelavathi frantically knocked on the door, begging her son to come out but he didn't respond. She told her husband, Lokesh J K, who was having a spat with his son's friends.

Lokesh sought help from two policemen who broke open the door of Gowda's bedroom only to find him hanging.

Ironically, police later learnt, Gowda hadn't stolen the friend's bike. He was, however, in a bad company and often quarrelled with his parents.