Pregnant mom commits suicide, woman cop saves her baby in MP village

SI Kavita Sahani found the woman hanging from the ceiling and a baby girl struck around her legs, with the umbilical cord still attached.

A pregnant woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging in her home in Katni district of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday, but her baby was rescued safely, thanks to the prompt action of a lady sub-inspector in Katni district, police said.

ASP Vivek Lal said at around 7.15 am, police received information that Laxmi Bai (36), wife of Santosh Singh, had committed suicide at her home in Badi Khirhani, Durga Chowk, falling under NKJ police station.

When SI Kavita Sahani reached the spot, she found the woman hanging in the cowshed and a baby boy stuck around her legs, with the umbilical cord still attached. She immediately wrapped a cloth around the crying baby and called the 108 ambulance service.

The paramedics who came severed the cord and took her to Katni district hospital where her condition is said to be stable, police said.

“The baby has been admitted to the neo-natal intensive care unit at the hospital and the baby has a good chance of survival,” a doctor at the district hospital said. The Doctor said the child appears to be eight months old, and is not premature.

“I have dealt with several cases of hanging in the course of my duty, but this was unexpected,” said Sahani. “The baby was crying and was entangled around the sari and leg with the cord in situ. Since it is very cold I quickly got hold of the baby and wrapped her in a cloth and waited for the paramedics to arrive.”

ASP Lal said the exact cause of the suicide is yet to be known. “We have not been able to take the statement of the family members as they were busy in Laxmi’s cremation.”

Police sources said that Santosh denied having any dispute with his wife and both had gone to sleep at around 9 pm after watching television. When he woke up at around 6 am, Laxmi was not there and when he went to the cow shed, he found her hanging there. The couple has four other children, the eldest being a 16-year old girl.

Santosh and Laxmi are marginal farmers and make a living out of growing and selling vegetables.