A 49-year-old woman allegedly killed herself at the popular Upvan Lake in Thane on Tuesday evening. Prima facie, her extreme step is being put down to her long-standing battle with tuberculosis.
According to the Vartak Nagar police, the woman, Thekani Yadav, lived in Thane (West) with her husband Jagadgari and their teenage daughter. The police said she had gone to the lake with her husband around 7.30 p.m.
“Mr. Yadav stepped away to buy something and when he returned a couple of minutes later, Thekani was nowhere to be seen. At the same time, he heard a commotion at the lake and ran over to investigate. The crowd gathered at the edge of the lake told him they had seen Thekani commit suicide,” an officer with the Vartak Nagar police said.
Mr. Yadav called the police control room, and the information was relayed to the Vartak Nagar police, the Thane Fire Brigade and the Thane Municipal Corporation. Police teams and rescue workers reached the spot within half an hour.
“Thekani’s body was removed from the water late in the night and taken to Thane Civil Hospital. Mr. Yadav gave a statement saying she had been suffering from TB for the last 20 years and had been discharged from the same hospital on Monday after another round of treatment,” the officer said.
While no suicide note was found on Thekani’s person or cell phone, the police believe her battle with the prolonged illness drove her to take the extreme step.
“We will check with other family members if there was any indication in her behaviour that she was harbouring suicidal thoughts. There are no signs of foul play so far, and we have registered an accidental death report,” the officer said.