KOLKATA: A 66-year-old woman, who had been under mental stress over the ongoing Corona pandemic and undergoing psychiatric treatment, was found dead just outside the compound of the six-storey apartment in Dum Dum where she was staying, barely 15 minutes after she went up to the terrace for a morning walk on Monday.
While police suspected the woman, Alpana Das, had ended her life, an unnatural death case was registered.
According to a local sources, Das’s daughter lived on a second-floor flat of the apartment off Devinibas Sarai near Dum Dum Motijhil College, where the elderly woman had been staying for the past couple of weeks. “The Covid-19 pandemic had put her in a state of constant anxiety. She didn’t let any of the family members, including my father-in-law, to step out of their house, petrified that someone or the other would contract the virus,” said her son-in-law Shouvic Das. “The stress led to depression. Seeing her condition, we brought her to our Dum Dum apartment a couple of weeks ago, but she still succumbed to her fears of the novel coronavirus.”
After she started staying with her daughter, Das reportedly would not let Shouvic, an employee of the state fisheries department, go to office. “We contacted a local psychiatrist and had a video-consultation for her treatment last week. We were following the instructions advised by the psychiatrist and she was undergoing treatment. But we never imagined this tragedy would take place,” Shouvic said.
Around 8 on Monday, Das went up to the terrace for a walk, like usual. “Unlike on other days, when other residents also go for walks on the terrace, she was apparently alone on Monday morning. Suddenly, we heard a loud thud and we looked out to find the woman lying in front of our apartment, blood-spattered” said Suranjana Bose, a resident of the apartment.
The woman was taken to a private hospital at Dum Dum’s Nagerbazar, where she was declared brought dead.
Police later sent the body for an autopsy. “Prima facie, the woman appears to have committed suicide. She was undergoing treatment. An unnatural death case has been initiated and we are also waiting for the post-mortem report to know the exact cause of her death,” said a senior officer from the Barrackpore commissionerate.
While police suspected the woman, Alpana Das, had ended her life, an unnatural death case was registered.
According to a local sources, Das’s daughter lived on a second-floor flat of the apartment off Devinibas Sarai near Dum Dum Motijhil College, where the elderly woman had been staying for the past couple of weeks. “The Covid-19 pandemic had put her in a state of constant anxiety. She didn’t let any of the family members, including my father-in-law, to step out of their house, petrified that someone or the other would contract the virus,” said her son-in-law Shouvic Das. “The stress led to depression. Seeing her condition, we brought her to our Dum Dum apartment a couple of weeks ago, but she still succumbed to her fears of the novel coronavirus.”
After she started staying with her daughter, Das reportedly would not let Shouvic, an employee of the state fisheries department, go to office. “We contacted a local psychiatrist and had a video-consultation for her treatment last week. We were following the instructions advised by the psychiatrist and she was undergoing treatment. But we never imagined this tragedy would take place,” Shouvic said.
Around 8 on Monday, Das went up to the terrace for a walk, like usual. “Unlike on other days, when other residents also go for walks on the terrace, she was apparently alone on Monday morning. Suddenly, we heard a loud thud and we looked out to find the woman lying in front of our apartment, blood-spattered” said Suranjana Bose, a resident of the apartment.
The woman was taken to a private hospital at Dum Dum’s Nagerbazar, where she was declared brought dead.
Police later sent the body for an autopsy. “Prima facie, the woman appears to have committed suicide. She was undergoing treatment. An unnatural death case has been initiated and we are also waiting for the post-mortem report to know the exact cause of her death,” said a senior officer from the Barrackpore commissionerate.
