Unable to breastfeed her baby, B'luru techie jumps from 20th floor

A software engineer died after jumping from the 20th floor of an apartment complex in southern Bengaluru on her 40th birthday. Police said she had been depressed because she was unable to breastfeed her one-year-old baby. She had tried to kill herself twice before this.

R Charishma Singh walked out of her parents' 19th-floor flat in Purva Highland, off Kanakapura Road, around 11.20 am on Sunday. She told her family she wanted to dry her hair. Instead, she walked to the 20th floor and paced the corridor for some time before jumping from a window. Her family members got worried when she didn't come back. They looked everywhere but couldn't find her. Her body was found at around 11.30 am.

It was a long fight with depression that eventually took her life, according to her family.

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Charishma married Karan Singh in February 2011 and moved with him to Canada in December of that year. In January 2022, she gave birth to a baby girl. However, she was unable to breastfeed her.

Charishma consulted a doctor, who put her on medication. In June, she slipped into depression to the extent that she tried to kill herself in Canada. Her husband managed to save her just in time.

The family wasn't happy with the treatment in Canada and moved to Bengaluru in October. They consulted a doctor at a private hospital in Yelahanka New Town but her condition didn't improve much.

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On October 16, she tried to kill herself again but was stopped by her family. She spent the next few weeks in the hospital and was finally discharged on November 26.

Charishma's parents are from Chennai and have lived in Bengaluru for the last 20 years. Her husband is also a software professional while her elder brother Goutham Singh V R works in a bank.

Based on Goutham's complaint, Thalaghattapura police have taken up a case of unnatural death under IPC Section 174 of the CrPC. Further investigations are underway.

The body has been sent for autopsy.