MUMBAI: A former journalist allegedly jumped to death with her seven-year-old son from her 12th floor rented house at Tlipia Building in Chandivali’s Nahare Amrit Shakti residential complex in Mumbai on Monday.
Reshma Trenchil (44), who was under severe depression after losing her husband Sarat Mulukutla (49) due to Covid-19 on May 23.
Sarat was working as chief business officer for an online trading platform for agriculture commodities.
Sakinaka police has registered a case of abetment to suicide against a family residing in the same building based on a suicide note left by Reshma.
However, no arrests have been made till late Tuesday.
Reshma along with her husband and son relocated to the new flat on April 10 and since then, they had differences with the accused family.
The accused family even filed a complaint before the members of the housing society as they were getting annoyed due to their son who used to make a lot of noise.
After the incident, the zonal deputy commissioner of police Maheshwar Reddy and assistant commissioner of police (Andheri) visited the spot and instructed police officers for further action.
Based on Reshma’s one-page suicide note, the police registered a suo-motu FIR against the family.
The incident was reported at around 2.30am on Monday.
“Reshma took the extreme step almost a month after her husband died of Covid-19 in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh where he had gone to look after his parents who were tested positive for Covid-19 and later died.
He too got infected and succumbed to the infection.
Their neighbours had filed two non-cognizable offences against Reshma for mental harassment because they use to get bothered due to her son Garud who used to make a lot of noise while playing.
“We had called both the families in early May so that they can clear their differences.
In the suicide note, Reshma has made the allegation of harassment from residents of flat number 1102 (Ayub Khan and family,” said a police officer.
Khan and his wife are suffering from serious health ailments and hence they need complete rest and so they used to complain about the noise, said the police.
The officer said that Reshma’s brother is coming from the US to perform the last rites.
Elaborating her pain ever she lost her husband, Reshma had posted on her Facebook page on May 30: “Life began for me at 33, on a rainy September evening at a Barista Café in Hyderabad…I suppose it was inevitable that an almost mythical being like him would meet a heroic if tragic end.
He was well aware of the risks involved.
But, to not go to tend to his old parents would never have occurred to him.
Even after contracting Covid himself, he soldiered on for over a week, spending the nights on a chair outside the ICU, maintaining vigil.
He continued the good fight for another three weeks from a hospital bed, struggling to breathe but determined to return to us in Mumbai.
Unfortunately, the evil virus won that particular battle”.