Mumbai: Day after domestic help kills self, couple booked

She was rushed to Holy Spirit Hospital in Andheri East, where she was declared dead upon arrival.

A senior banking executive and his wife were booked Wednesday for driving their domestic help to commit suicide a day after she allegedly jumped off their 18th floor apartment in Jogeshwari. Nitin Khanna, who heads the motor insurance wing at a large private sector bank and his wife, were charged with abetment of suicide under the Indian Penal Code by the Meghwadi police station on Wednesday, said N D Reddy, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone X.

On Tuesday night, 19-year-old Jyoti Potkar, who worked as a help at their home in Oberoi Splendour building on the Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road in Jogeshwari East, allegedly jumped off the 18th floor. She was rushed to Holy Spirit Hospital in Andheri East, where she was declared dead upon arrival.

Her family lodged a complaint with the police, alleging that the Khanna family had threatened Potkar after finding out that she been stealing from their home. According to the police, Potkar had been working as a stay-at-home help for the past one year.

Recently, after several items went missing, the Khanna family suspected that Potkar might be responsible, the police said. The police said that on Tuesday, they found the missing items among Potkar’s belongings and confronted her.

“We have recorded the statement of another maid in the home who claimed that the Khannas threatened Potkar and drove her to take her own life,” said an official at Meghwadi police station. The police said that the Khannas had also planned to contact Potkar’s aunt and tell her to take the woman away.