Woman falls to death from eighth-floor flat in Vaishali

GHAZIABAD: A 31-year-old woman fell to her death from an eighth-floor flat of a housing society in Vaishali on Tuesday. The woman, identified as Reena, a housewife, lived with her husband and in-laws in Sharda Apartments in Sector 4 in Vaishali.

Reena is survived by a six-month-old daughter. The incident occurred at 1.30 pm when Reena was in the flat with her daughter and mother-in-law Kusum Devi. Her husband, Sunil Kumar (29) and father-in-law Ram Prakash (52), were in office.

Sunil, a peon with a private firm in Sector 3 of Vaishali, married Reena around eight years ago. His father, Ram Prakash, is a notice-server with the Income Tax department office in Aaykar Bhawan in Vaishali. According to Sunil, he received a call from his mother around 1.30 pm. "My mother told me that Reena had suddenly gone missing from the flat. She had taken my infant daughter to the washroom when Reena had gone missing. She seemed to be in a lot of distress. When I reached the society a few minutes later, I noticed a huge crowd in the compound. I learnt that Reena had fallen from the balcony," Sunil told TOI.

Residents of the housing society called the police control room. According to family members, Reena had been undergoing treatment for a mental ailment for the past six months. "She slipped in the bathroom of a Noida hospital three days after delivering our baby. Her head had banged against the wall resulting in internal injuries. She was being treated for an ailment resulting from those injuries," said Sunil.

Ghaziabad police suspect this to be a case of suicide but have not recovered any suicide note from the house and are questioning family members. "Preliminary investigations have revealed that the woman was not in a balanced state of mind after the birth of her daughter. It is possible she could have taken the extreme step in a state of distress. However, we are investigating the case from all angles," said local police outpost in-charge Bhupinder Singh.