Mumbai: Two women drank pesticide outside Mantralaya on Monday, with one of them later dying in hospital. A handicapped person also tried to commit suicide by pouring kerosene on himself.
One woman, who was from Pune, said her property had been 'sold' by someone but the police were refusing to take action. The other woman, a resident of Navi Mumbai, said her husband had been left with physically disabilities following 'treatment' at a hospital.
Both women were taken to JJ Hospital
The two women approached the main gate of Mantralaya with their mouths covered with scarves, a source said. Once there, they removed the scarves, took out bottles from plastic bags and consumed the contents of the bottle, the source said. Police personnel on duty rushed towards the women and later took them to JJ Hospital, he said.
The police are still trying to determine how / when the two women, who are unrelated, came together, the source said.
One woman under treatment
Sheetal Gadekar, 45, from Pune, died during treatment. Gadekar and her husband owned a hotel in Dhule’s MIDC, which had been sold to someone else without their knowledge, the source said.
Sangeeta Dhaware, 45, from Navi Mumbai, is still undergoing treatment. The source said Dhaware’s husband, a constable, was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Navi Mumbai. According to the source, the hospital allegedly botched the treatment, which left the constable with permanent disabilities, but the authorities were refusing to take any action.
On Monday itself, a 40-year-old physically disabled man pouring kerosene on himself at the Garden Gate of Mantralaya.
Police says disabled man a resident of Pune
The police, who did not give his name, said he was a resident of Pune and associated with an organisation that wanted to hold a protest outside Mantralaya but was prevented from doing so. He managed to escape the police and arrived at Mantralaya and poured kerosene on himself. The police immediately took him into custody.
The source said the organisation was demanding an increase in government grant for disabled people to ₹3,000 from the current ₹1,500.
The Marine Drive police registered separate cases of attempt to suicide against all three, but after Gadekar’s death on Tuesday, they converted her FIR to an Accidental Death Report.
