MUZAFFARABAD: A woman threw her preschooler child into the Jhelum River moments before jumping into the swollen water channel from a bridge here on Thursday, in what was the second such incident in less than three weeks.

CCTV footage recorded from the right side of River Jhelum in Domel area showed the long chador clad woman, identified as 38-year-old Robina Safdar, slowly walking through the approach road to the pre-partition era iron bridge at about 9:41am while holding the hand of her son Shahzeb, who appears to be less than five years of age.

The iron bridge is mostly used by pedestrians or two or three wheelers after the construction of RCC Quaid-i-Azam Bridge hardly few yards away on its western side.

As the woman entered the bridge, she stood along its western railing and did not take the extreme step while the bridge was being used by some pedestrians and rickshaws.

The moment the bridge was unoccupied, the woman pulled her son up and threw him into the river and within the next few moments climbed the railing and jumped herself, to the shock of the people who were seen standing at the approach road.

Both the woman and child were visible in the water for a few moments, but then disappeared.

Shaheedur Rehman, in-charge of the relevant Jalalabad police post told Dawn that the woman’s father and spouse had given a statement to them that she was being treated for mental disorders by some physicians in Abbottabad for the past few years.

“But we are conducting investigations into their claims and immediately cannot say anything with certainty,” he said.

Earlier on May 5, Bushra Sagheer, wife of a police constable, had committed suicide along with her infant daughter in the same fashion from the RCC Quaid-i-Azam Bridge.

At that time, police had quoted her in-laws as having told them that she [too] was suffering from mental ailments. However, the claim was rejected by her maternal relations, alleging that she had taken the extreme step due to domestic violence.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2024