Mother Of Five Hangs Herself To Death, Police Say She Was Depressed Over Her Broken Marriage

A 38-year-old mother of five, who was reportedly depressed due to her divorce, allegedly killed herself at her parents’ house in the north Indian state of Punjab, authorities said.

The mother, who has not been publicly identified, was found hanging dead from the ceiling fan at her parents’ home in the Mithewal village of Ludhiana district on Sunday, June 26.

According to the police, the woman had been fighting depression following her divorce two years ago.

She and her five children, including four daughters and a 3-year-old son, had been living at her parents’ house since the divorce, reports said.

The victim’s father was out of town and her eldest daughter, 20, was at work when the incident took place, Sub-inspector Vijay Kumar, station house officer at Machhiwara police station, said, the Hindustan Times reports.

Her three daughters, 14, 10, 8, and her toddler son were at home when she went to the bedroom and locked herself inside.

When their mother did not answer the door, despite repeated knocking, the 14-year-old began shouting for help and attempted to break open the door, but failed.

When no one came to help, the teen sent her 8-year-old sister into the room through a window. It was the child who found their mother hanging from the ceiling fan, according to reports.

Police were alerted and the woman’s body was sent to a medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.

No suicide note was recovered from the scene, Kumar said. Police have initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 (enquire and report on suicide) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

In a similar incident, a 29-year-old woman reportedly took her own life after losing at least US$13,500 while online gambling in Manali New Town, Chennai, India on June 5.

B. Bhavani, an employee at a private health care firm, was reportedly upset after she lost 20 sovereigns of gold jewelry worth about US$9,640 (7,50,000 Indian Rupees) and US$3855 (3,00,000 Indian Rupees), which she had borrowed from her sisters, in an online gambling game.

Bhavani allegedly killed herself by hanging.