MUMBAI: Mentally ill woman killed daughter with dupatta after not taking medicine for days; also slit her wrists

A woman who was undergoing treatment for mental illness strangled her 11-year-old daughter to death with a dupatta and tried to commit suicide by slitting her wrists with a knife at a rented accommodation in Mumbai’s Borivali area on Thursday night.

Police said the woman’s husband informed the Casterba police station about the incident and officers rushed to the scene. Police found the woman lying in a pool of blood and the daughter lying next to her mother with a dupatta hanging around her neck.

The 11-year-old daughter Ruhaani Solanki was declared dead on arrival at Shatabdi Hospital, but the 46-year-old woman Rekha was still alive and began receiving treatment, police said.

Police said the incident happened around 10.30pm on Thursday, shortly after the family finished dinner, with the mother and daughter locking themselves in a room while the father sat in the living room of the three-bedroom apartment.

The father, who owns a store in the area, told police he heard his daughter screaming and yelling that her mother was trying to hurt her. He said the screaming stopped after a while and no one opened the door.

Police said when they arrived, the door was locked from the inside and they had to break in.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident and have begun recording statements from the woman and her husband.

“We have registered a case against the woman under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. Further investigation is on,” said a senior police officer of Kasturbamarg police station.

According to officials, the woman, who had been undergoing treatment for mental illness at two hospitals in Andheri and Vadodara for the past 10 years, had not taken her medication for three consecutive days.

An apartment resident who asked not to be named said: “They look like an ordinary family. In fact, at a recent event organized by the Housing Society, the daughter performed like a cheerful girl. Last night, she Came downstairs with her pets. Whatever happened, it was shocking.”