CHENNAI: A 27-year-old woman, mother of 45-day-old twin girls, allegedly killed one of the babies due to suspected postpartum depression on Tuesday morning in Neelankarai.
The woman threw the infant from the terrace of her house as she believed it was unhealthy and did not show signs of improvement despite her efforts, sources said. She is likely to be arrested under charges of murder, Neelankarai police said.
According to police, the woman was staying at her parents’ house after delivering the twins. Her husband would visit them frequently. While one of the babies was healthy, weighing around 2.5 kg, the other one was underweight, weighing only around 1.5 kg. This child, the woman believed, was not responding well to her feeding and continued to remain weak, police sources said.
“As the infant was not recovering well, the mother became depressed over its health. This, we think, may have caused her trauma,” a police officer said.
On Tuesday morning, the woman allegedly threw the baby from the terrace of the house. Sometime later, the woman’s father noticed that one of the babies was missing, prompting the others in the family to begin searching for the infant inside the house. When they could not find the baby, they lodged a complaint with the Neelankarai police station.
‘Should observe new mothers for any psychological changes’
The woman did not reveal the incident to her family during this time, police said. Based on the complaint, police started a search.
“After the search, we found the baby unconscious near the bushes around the house. The baby was then rushed to a private hospital where she was declared dead,” an officer said. The body was later taken to Government Royapettah Hospital for postmortem, sources said.
Police said they initiated an inquiry and the woman confessed to the murder. A case of suspicious death registered will be altered to murder. She will soon be formally arrested, police said.
Speaking to TNIE, obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Jayashree Sharma said that women may experience some depression because of sudden changes in hormones after delivery. People should observe new mothers for any behavioural or psychological changes.
If those with postpartum depression are not treated at the right time, it may progress into postpartum psychosis. This is when the new mothers might engage in such activities that cause harm to babies, she said. If such psychological changes are noticed at the early stage and treated, this can be avoided, she added.
(With inputs from Sinduja Jane @ Chennai)