Court grants bail to woman who flung her infant from 14th-floor flat

Woman with speech and hearing impairment granted bail after being accused of flinging her baby from the 14th floor; claims innocence due to mental health issues.

MUMBAI: The sessions court on Monday granted bail to a 28-year-old woman with speech and hearing impairment who was booked in September 2023 for allegedly flinging her 39-day-old baby girl from the 14th floor of her building in Mulund. Additional sessions judge VM Sundale directed the accused Manali Mehta to be released on a bond of ₹50,000.

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On September 21, 2023, the 39-day-old infant was found lying on the parapet of the first-floor window of a neighbouring building after which the police were informed, and a murder case was registered.

Mehta had sought bail on the grounds that the entire allegation was based on suspicion. Her advocate further submitted that the applicant was falsely implicated in the crime and that the FIR did not mention any active role played by her in the alleged commission of the offence.

“For the sake of argument, if it is assumed that the Applicant committed the said offence still since the Applicant is not in a fit state of mind and has been demonstrating psychotic features, she is incapable of committing any offence and is entitled to the protection under section 84 of IPC. The applicant by unsoundness of mind is incapable of knowing the nature of the act while doing it,” the bail application said, adding that Mehta had been suffering from postpartum depression causing her tremendous trauma and psychotic features.

Mehta also pleaded that her condition of Bilateral Profound Sensorineural hearing loss with mutism arising from profound congenital deafness, that is, the inability to hear and speak since her birth, pushed her into emotional despair, adding that considering she has a serious medical condition, no fruitful purpose will be achieved by keeping her in custody.