AHMEDABAD: A 35-year-old woman in Gujarat's Surat city died by suicide after allegedly trying to poison her two minor daughters on Wednesday following repeated household disputes.
Mital, the wife of Jaysukh Patelia, a diamond factory worker from Bhavnagar, allegedly mixed pesticide used for grains into water, and made her two daughters, aged five and six, consume it.
Later, she consumed the poison herself and called her husband, who was at work. “I don’t want to live… I have consumed poison,” she reportedly told him over the phone.
Patelia had left for work as usual that morning and briefly returned home for lunch before heading back to work.
Patelia alerted his cousin Harish and rushed home together. Recounting the incident, Harish said, "Both girls were sitting on the bed, crying. Their mother lay unconscious in front of them. The elder one said, ‘Mother gave us medicine and then drank it herself.’ She also said she vomited after that."
All three were rushed to SMIMER Hospital, where Mital died on Thursday during treatment. Both daughters were admitted to the PICU ward, and their condition is now reported to be stable.
Investigations have revealed that frequent domestic arguments over cooking, food, and daily chores had strained the couple’s relationship.
Mital had been reportedly preparing to travel to her native village for a family wedding shopping.
The Gujarat Police, particularly the Singanpore police station, has launched a detailed investigation to uncover the exact sequence of events and determine whether additional factors contributed to this extreme step.
(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050, Tele Manas - 14416 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ helpline - 02225521111, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm.)