Delhi woman who threw son from first floor was angry with her father-in-law

Sonu Gupta threw her son off the staircase after and argument with her father-in-law in southeast Delhi’s Pul Prahladpur.

A day after a CCTV footage showing 26-year-old Sonu Gupta throw her three-year-old son Ansh off the stairs emerged, the woman’s in-laws said it was her father-in-law Ravinder Gupta’s remarks that triggered the rage.

Sonu Gupta’s mother-in-law Vimlesh shows a photo of Sonu with her son Ansh. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

The family members said they were watching the movie, Baghban, when Ravinder made an “adverse comment” about how children of the current generation treat parents.

Sonu was sitting in the same room. According to her in-laws, she got very angry over Ravinder’s comments and entered into a verbal argument with him. She allegedly screamed at him, picked up Ansh and threw him off the staircase.

Sonu left the house with the child on Thursday when the news was flashed by several television channels.

Police traced the woman to Faridabad and detained for questioning. “Sonu Gupta has joined investigation. She is being interrogated to find out what circumstances led to the incident.” DCP, southeast, Romil Baniya said.

Sonu told police that she used to have frequent tiffs with her in-laws. “She said that she had verbal arguments with her in-laws frequently and on the day of the incident, she lost her temper. Sonu claims that she was pretending to throw the child but he slipped and fell down the stairs,” said Baniya.

The maid, Anju, who was putting unwashed clothes in the washing machine at the time of the incident, ran towards the staircase to save Ansh. Ravinder too got up and followed Anju. The CCTV footage shows the family dog following them.

Read: Delhi baby beaters: Why mothers are turning angry, violent

“Ansh did not suffer any injuries. He was wearing thick winter clothes, which saved him,” said Vimlesh Gupta, Sonu’s mother-in-law.

Vimlesh said that the incident took place around 3.40 pm on January 21. Ravinder was sitting on the couch watching TV. Ansh, who had returned from playschool, was sleeping on the bed in the same room. His mother was sitting nearby.

“Ravinder was watching Baghban and got emotional. He said what he wanted. His exact words were ‘Bachche log kaise karte hai aaj kal (how do children behave these days)’. Sonu got angry and started arguing with him. What followed was horrific,” Vimlesh said.

Nitin Gupta, Sonu’s husband, lodged a complaint on January 26 at Pul Prahladpur police station. A case under section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) was registered. In his statement to police, Nitin said that he had installed CCTV camera in the house after Sonu began beating his mother and son.

Read: Pink, blue, yellow, all taken: Delhi Metro running out of colours for new lines

Speaking to HT, Nitin said: “I knocked at the door on Friday morning but no one answered. I thought she must be sleeping so I called her on her mobile but she did not respond. I opened the door using the spare keys and found that she had left with my son and some valuables,” he said.

He then went to the police station to inform them about her being missing. The police swung into action and put her number on technical surveillance. “She had gone to Faridabad with her son as she got scared after watching the news in the morning. The TV channels were running the CCTV footage and she feared that she may get arrested, so she left the house with her son. Our team detained her,” a police officer said.

Meanwhile, the Child Welfare Committee handed over Ansh to his maternal uncle.

Read: Delhi Chak De girls chase down snatchers, beat them blue as traffic cops watch