Family members of the 70-yr-old woman, who drowned on Monday, say they have no clue as to why she would travel all the way to South Mumbai from Powai.
How could a 70-year-old woman, who suffered from arthritis and never ventured out of her Powai house alone, end up drowning off Marine Drive? The family of the victim, Kalpana Bhattacharya, whose body was spotted floating in the sea on Monday, said it has no idea how and why the woman travelled all the way to south Mumbai, even as police said they don’t suspect suicide or foul play.
Bhattacharya had shifted to Mumbai from Kolkata around two years ago following the death of her husband, her daughterin-law Jogita said.
“On Monday, my husband (Saugat Bhattacharya) left for work around 10.30 and I too went to work after dropping our son to college. We realised my mother-in-law was missing when my husband returned for lunch around 1 pm. We immediately filed a complaint at Powai Police Station,” Jogita said.
She said that her mother-in-law never ventured out alone because of arthritis, and that she needed help to even walk around their society compound.
The family said that the woman was fond of the sea, and they would visit JuhuBeach or the Marine Drive seafront at least once a month. “However, she hadn’t ventured out of the house this month,” a family member said.
The eyewitnesses’ account
The Marine Drive police are relying on the witness of two people, who said they saw the woman falling on tripods from across the road. A police constable patrolling the area was also alerted and tried pulling the woman to safety, cops said.
According to police, the witnesses have said that they rushed to her help and tried pulling her to safety, but the woman didn’t have the strength to hold on. “The witnesses were joined by a police constable but the victim was repeatedly hit by the waves and got swept away,” a cop said.
Sub-Inspector Sameer Shaikh from Marine Drive Police Station said that police didn’t suspect foul play, but investigations were on. “We have asked for the call records of the victim’s family members to check their location at the time of accident. Her son has said that the family used to visit Marine Drive and hang out around the spot the woman fell from,” Shaikh said.
Woman hadn’t overcome husband’s death
The deceased’s family members said that they often found her speaking to her husband’s photograph in the house. “It’s been two years since my father-in-law died but my mother-in-law wasn’t able to come to terms with his death. We would find her speaking to his photograph in the pooja room but it didn’t strike us as unusual as she would do that often,” Jogta said, denying that the woman was suffering from a mental disorder.
Source: http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/others/Woman-who-drowned-off-Marine-Drive-couldnt-walk-on-her-own-Family/articleshow/38453878.cms
Picture Source: maharashtramaza.info
