Chennai woman commits suicide after blame for baby falling from 4th floor

A 33-year-old woman, mother of the infant who miraculously survived after falling from the balcony of their fourth-floor apartment in Chennai, died by suicide during a visit to her maternal house in Coimbatore, police said on Monday.

A police officer at Coimbatore’s Karamadai police station said her family told investigators that the woman had been depressed after the incident.

A neighbour had put out a video clip that showed how residents risked their lives to rescue the eight-month-old girl who slipped from her mother’s arms on April 28 and landed on a tin shed on the second floor. The video was also uploaded on social media where most people praised the neighbours who risked their lives to save the infant.

But many were also sharply critical of the mother, accusing her of being negligent.

Police said the woman had been feeling low following the criticism and came to her maternal house in Coimbatore with her husband and two children, aged 5 years and 8 months, about two weeks ago.

The police officer cited above said she died by suicide on Saturday in her parent’s house in Coimbatore. “Her father informed us that they found her dead in the house when they returned,” he said.

A case has been registered under section 174 Code of Criminal Procedure to investigate the unnatural death. Her body has been sent to the Mettupalayam Government Hospital for post-mortem.

The woman and her husband were techies and worked in Chennai.