Covid-19 trauma wipes out happily married family

Rajkot: Six years ago, their infant daughter died due to scorpion bite. But the Chudasama couple - Ashok and Nita - somehow came to terms with the loss and lived a normal life after the birth of a son.
But tragedies don’t seem to be ending for this family from Junagadh district. Barely three days after Ashok committed suicide by jumping from the eighth floor of a hospital in Junagadh, Nita too took the drastic step, taking along her five-year-son Het. Sources said Nita was pregnant.
Ashok (45) had sunk into depression after testing positive for Covid-19 and had plunged from the eight floor of Kalp Hospital on August 23 night. Preliminary investigation suggested that Nita (35) could not bear the tragic loss of her husband and decided to commit suicide.
However, all other family members had tested negative for Covid-19.
On Thursday after, she took Het along and jumped into a deep well on the outskirts of their native Moti Ghansari village, eight km from Keshod town. Their bodies were fished out in the evening.
Ashok and Nita got married about 8-9 years ago. Around six years ago, their first child - a daughter - died due scorpion sting, sources said. Nita was working in anganwadi in the village. Nita also belongs to the same village.
With the deaths of the husband-wife couple and their son, only his parents remain in the family as Ashok was the only child. His father Naran Chudasama is 65 years old while his mother Nathi is 63.
Locals told TOI that the family owned around 12 bigha land in the village and they did not have any financial issues.
Ashok had even completed his BEd and was working as a teacher in a private school in Keshod, besides farming.
Nita has two brothers, one of whom is a truck driver and another farm labourer. Her father drives an auto rickshaw, a resident of Moti Ghansari said.