Mother, 33, and son, 6, die after fall from 18th floor of Pimpri-Chinchwad high-rise

A 33-year-old woman and her six-year-old son died on Friday, 30 October, after falling from the 18th floor of a residential tower in Signature Park society, near Dange Chowk in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The incident happened at about 6.30 pm and has left the neighbourhood in grief.

The woman has been identified as Ekta Manoj Bhangad. She was a homemaker. Her husband, Manoj, is an engineer with an IT company in Yerawada, and he was at work when the tragedy occurred. The family comes originally from Rajasthan and had lived in the society for about two years.

Wakad police and a forensic team reached the spot soon after being alerted and prepared a panchnama. Reports differ on the exact locality: most describe the society as being in the Wakad police area, while one report places it in Thergaon. One report also says the mother and son were taken to hospital, where doctors declared them dead.

Police went through the building's CCTV footage. It shows Ekta riding the lift to the 18th floor with her son. Both their slippers were found near the gallery on that floor. On this basis, police say it prima facie appears that the two jumped on their own.

Investigators also recovered a note of seven to eight pages in Ekta's handwriting. According to its contents, she had suffered from a serious spinal ailment for several years. Despite treatment at several well-known hospitals, doctors could never pin down the cause, and she was left in physical and mental distress.

In the note, Ekta wrote of her deep love for her husband and asked that, once she was gone, he should marry again and start life afresh. She also wrote about her son's future and how he would cope without her. As per the note, she feared the boy would keep asking for his mother after her death, and that a young child at home could make a second marriage hard for Manoj. This, it is understood, was why she decided to take him with her.

A case of accidental death has been registered at Wakad police station. Police are closely examining every detail of the note and its handwriting, and are verifying Ekta's treatment history and the circumstances in the days before the incident. They have cautioned that the note and the situation behind it must be looked at independently, and that no final conclusion can be drawn from preliminary information alone. Although the spinal ailment has emerged as the main reason, all the causes have not yet been established. Further investigation is under way.