Mumbai: Kurar police have arrested a 50-year-old woman for throwing her step-granddaughter, Jiya, from the sixth floor of a Malad high-rise on September 28.
Police said the arrested accused, Rukhsana Ansari, was fed up with daily arguments between her daughter’s son and Jiya. She has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for murder.
According to police, relations between the toddler’s mother and Rukhsana were always sour. Rukhsana always favoured her daughter’s son over Jiya, which often led to arguments.
Relations between Jiya and Rukhsana were so bad that the grandmother pinched her badly just to teach the toddler a lesson, complained Saniya, Jiya’s mother.
“On September 5, a similar argument ensued in the family, after which my in-laws and sister-in-law moved out of the house with her son, to stay with my brother-in-law at Mahul.
Around 20 days later, when my husband visited Mahul, he convinced them to return and requested them not to pick fights,” said Saniya.
After the reconciliation, Rukhsana, her husband returned along with her daughter and grandson to stay with Jiya’s parents on September 26. A day later, Jiya fell sick and had fever.
After Saniya took her to the doctor, Rukhsana brought nutmeg and almond, following which she prepared a mixture and rubbed it on her, which worsened her condition. Police said that Jiya was cranky all night and slept only after 3.30am on September 28.
Early on September 28, around 6.30am, a first floor resident saw Jiya lying in a pool of blood on the ground floor. He immediately rushed over to Jiya’s house and informed them about the incident. After learning of Jiya lying in a pool of blood, everybody rushed to the ground floor, except Rukhsana.
Jiya was rushed to Shatabdi Hospital, where she was declared dead before arrival. Police primarily registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) and began investigation, while awaiting the postmortem report.
Kurar Police recorded statements of all the family members present in the house at the time of incident, along with the building residents as well. Police suspected that Jiya could have been thrown off by one of the family members, as it was impossible for her to climb up the window and fall down accidentally.
“The postmortem reports revealed that Jiya’s body had abrasions on her arms and scratch marks on her face, near the mouth. These Mark’s indicated that she was first smothered and forced, before being thrown off the sixth floor,” said D S Swami, deputy commissioner of police (zone 12).
Police began interrogating the family members separately to get a clearer insight into the case. During the interrogation, Saniya said that Rukhsana disliked Jiya.
Meanwhile, Rukhsana painted a picture that Saniya was mentally unstable and always lashed out on Jiya, which is why she could have flung her from the window. However, during a detailed interrogation, Rukhsana confessed of killing her.
“Rukhsana said she did not like that Jiya always tormented her daughter’s son, which irked her. These arguments also led the family to separate for a while, which seems to be the trigger,” said DCP Swami.
Police have booked Rukhsana under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for murder and a First Information Report (FIR) was registered on Monday. She will be produced in a local magistrate court on Tuesday.
