The Aarey police have clarified that the death of a 17-year-old daughter of a city-based real estate developer, initially suspected to be a suicide on August 14 evening, was in fact an accident. Investigations revealed that the teenager was attempting to note down her computer password for her mother on a wall outside the window of their 23rd-floor flat.
The girl was leaving the country for further studies and, hence, was instructed by her mother to make a note of the passwords. Police found an incomplete password written in pencil on the vertical wall beside the window. It appeared that the girl had leaned out of the window to write downwards, and while bending too far, lost her balance and fell.
According to police sources, the girl was the only child and lived with her parents and grandparents in one of the wings of Oberoi Square. Her father is a builder. She was studying in Std XI, and had secured admission to a college in London for higher studies. Arrangements for her stay had already been made, and she was scheduled to leave in the next 10 to 15 days.
On the day of the incident, her father told the police that his daughter had been battling depression due to academic pressure and was undergoing treatment at Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. She had earlier attempted suicide. “Owing to this depression, she jumped from the bedroom and ended her life. I do not suspect anyone, nor do I have any complaint regarding the incident,” he said in his initial statement.
However, as the family was emotionally distressed, detailed questioning was postponed. A few days later, when the police revisited for further inquiry, new details emerged. “The girl’s mother told us that on the afternoon of the incident, she was busy cooking in the kitchen while the in-laws were in their room and her daughter was in her bedroom.
The girl told the mother to note down the password, but since she was occupied, she said she didn’t have time. Later, it was noticed that the girl had tried to write the password on the wall near the window by moving the curtain aside,” said a police officer.
The grandmother told police that she heard the girl call out “Baa” (the name she used for her grandmother) and, moments later, a loud thud. Senior Inspector Ravindra Patil of Aarey police station said, “Our investigation has revealed this was not a suicide but an accident.”
