Mother With 'Acute Natal Depression' Leaps From 190 Ft Balcony With Two Young Sons In Her Arms

The wife of a Russian military officer with "acute natal depression" jumped to her death with her two young children from their 19th-floor apartment in Moscow.

34-year-old Olga Zharkova jumped off the high-rise building holding her two sons, aged three, and one month, in her arms, authorities said. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the investigators, the mother-of-two was suffering from acute postnatal depression. The police found a disturbing note written by Zharkova that said she did not want to leave her children in this "hard, gloomy world".

"She complained to her acquaintances that she had postnatal depression," a law enforcement source told Komsomolskaya Pravda.

"She felt lonely and tired."

Zharkova's husband, Dmitry was reportedly treated for shock when he arrived at the tragic scene.

According to the law enforcement, Zharkova had previously complained that her husband was away from home for long periods due to his military duties.

The Russian Investigative Committee has initiated a murder investigation into the deaths of the two children.

A “postmortem psychiatric analysis” will be conducted on the woman, said reports citing law enforcement.

In a similar but unrelated incident, a 30-year-old mother had a tragic death after she jumped off a speeding train with her 7-year-old son in the early hours on Sunday, Oct.10.

The child survived the incident and is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital, authorities said.

The deceased, Banu More, a resident of Mumbai, India, was found dead on the tracks near Vidyavihar by a railway police officer.

A GRP (Government Railway Police) officer who was doing routine rounds found the mother and son lying near the tracks. The mother had already succumbed to her injuries when the officer found her but the boy was breathing but heavily bleeding and unresponsive, police said.

The officer picked up the boy in his arms and ran across the foot overbridge to rush him to a nearby hospital.

Due to the severity of his injuries, the child was later transferred to a better hospital, where he is currently recovering.

The police informed the boy’s father who later told them that he and his wife had marital issues.