‘Chided for stealing,’ domestic help in Mumbai jumps off 18th floor home, dies

When the team arrived at the spot, they found that Sunil had been rushed to Batra Hospital. (Representational)

A 19-year-old woman working as a domestic help at the residence of a senior banking executive in Jogeshwari jumped off his 18th floor home on Monday after being chided for stealing. The incident took place at 8.45 pm on Monday at Oberoi Splendour building on the Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road where Nitin Khanna (42) lives in an 18th floor apartment with his family.

The police said the deceased, Jyoti Potkar, had been working at Khanna’s home for the past one year. Potkar’s aunt had recommended Khanna to hire her as a stay-at-home house help, the police said. On Monday, Khanna allegedly confronted Potkar about articles he claimed she had stolen from the home after finding them in her belongings.
“The family had previously suspected that the deceased may be responsible for the thefts. Their suspicions were confirmed after they found the stolen items along with her other belongings,” said an officer at Meghwadi police station.

The police added that Khanna was not keen to register a criminal complaint and instead contacted Potkar’s aunt to come and take her away.  “Prima facie, it appears that the woman jumped out from the house because she was afraid of the consequences of the theft. We will only know for certain once a post-mortem is conducted,” the official added.

Potkar was rushed to Holy Spirit Hospital in Andheri East where she was declared dead upon arrival. A case of accidental death has been registered at Meghwadi police station.