JOIN USA 23-year-old woman killed her one-year-old daughter and subsequently attempted suicide in outer Delhi’s Bawana on Tuesday afternoon.
The woman, identified as Rekha, lives at Bawana with her husband Amit Kumar, daughter, Sristhi, and in-laws. Amit works with a contractor in west Delhi’s Rani Bagh area.
On Tuesday morning, Amit left for work leaving his wife, daughter and mother at home. In the afternoon, his mother went out for feeding cattle. When she returned home after an hour, she found the main door of the house bolted from inside. She repeatedly knocked at the door, but there was no response from Rekha.
“The woman got worried and she somehow managed to break open the door. When she went inside Rekha’s room, she found her lying unconscious on the bed and blood was oozing out from her wrist. Rekha’s daughter Sristhi was also lying unconscious near her mother on the bed,” said a senior police officer.
The officer added that Rekha’s mother-in-law immediately raised an alarm and alerted the neighbours.
A neighbour made a call to the police control room to inform about the incident. A PCR van immediately reached the spot and rushed them to Maharishi Valmiki Hospital, where Sristhi was pronounced dead on arrival.
The doctors at the hospital told police that Rekha had consumed some poisonous substance before slashing her wrist with a sharp object. She is in a critical condition, police said.
About the exact cause of Sristhi’s death, the officer said they are waiting for her autopsy report. But prima facie it appeared that she was smothered by her mother.
The police suspect Sristhi could have been poisoned by her mother. “We are questioning Amit to know the exact reason behind the extreme step,” said the officer.
The police said they are in the process of recording the statement of Rekha’s family members, her husband and in-laws. A sub-divisional magistrate probe has been ordered into the incident, the officer added.