Gujarat HC quashes FIR against woman who tried to kill children, attempted suicide

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court quashed an FIR against a woman who was booked for attempted murder when she poisoned her two children and attempted suicide. The court has also asked an NGO to provide the woman a livelihood, because the frustration of her social and financial problems had driven her to commit suicide and to attempt to kill the children.
This case involves Lata Lathiya (33), the wife of a diamond broker, Jitesh Lathiya, who attempted suicide and made her 13-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son drink milk laced with rat poison in the beginning of June. However, all three survived. Jitesh, who had been living separately for the last 18 months due to marital discord, lodged an FIR against his wife at Amroli police station in Surat for trying to kill the children.
However, the husband and wife reached an amicable settlement and Lata moved the HC for quashing of the FIR against her. The husband told the court he had no objection. The HC was told that the woman had taken the extreme step due to frustration.
On hearing the case, Justice A P Thaker on Wednesday quashed the charges against the woman with observation that with the settlement of the family dispute, there is no chance of the woman being convicted. She had allegedly tried to kill her children on account of the family dispute and due to frustration because she had no income of her own and the husband was not paying anything for the family’s maintenance.
As the court decided to drop the charges against the woman, the state government requested it to advise the woman to join Mahila Gruh Udyog in Surat for a livelihood because of her financial condition. The court issued necessary directions but left it to the woman’s discretion to join the NGO.