When a mother throws her baby girl outside the window!

Motherhood for some is the most wondrous gift in all of mankind. Yet, for others it can be a living hell. A mother is the epitome of protectiveness. Motherhood brings out fierce feelings of being protectors of children. Most women will raise their shackles if they sense the slightest harm to their babies. Yet, the animal species of cat is known to swallow its new-born kittens as soon as they are born and a human species Deepika Parmar of Dahisar in a freak instance, threw her new-born baby girl out of the hospital window, killing her!

About six weeks ago, Deepika Parmar, who had lost 2 children earlier one in a miscarriage 10 years ago and a girl who died shortly after birth three years ago, was blessed with twins, a boy and a girl. The family seemed to feel a sense of poetic justice since they received twins in place of the two earlier kids that they had lost. It was a complicated case, the twins were born premature and the family had spent 2 lacs rupees already, after running from pillar to post in an effort to save all the lives.

In a sudden turn of events, Deepika was seen in the hospital CCTV footage, taking her daughter to the bathroom and emerging alone. Later the baby was found outside the bathroom window injured with her ears bitten off by rats; she died later.

What can possibly be going through the mind and what can be the emotional state of such a mother? How can the hand that rocks the cradle, kill its own flesh and blood?

It is common place knowledge today, that post delivery syndrome or "postpartum" attacks nearly 85% of women who go through extreme cases of emotional imbalance post delivery. The rapid changes in hormone during the pregnancy, followed by delivery can be the cause of severe stress, depression and anxiety. These baby blues begin a few days before delivery and can last as much as six months thereafter. Typical symptoms are mood swings, bouts of crying, irritability or insomnia. Whether post partum can cause female foeticide as in the case of Deepika will need a detailed examination.

Motherhood maybe very demanding task but is an extremely rewarding endeavour. For many women, having a baby increases their sense of self-worth. A mother is primarily a nurturer, the gratification a mother receives in nurturing her child to be healthy, happy and successful can barely be quantified. A mother is willing to sacrifice all she has for her children.

However, all this can happen only when a mother is right and ready in her mind to bear a child. Motherhood is the most natural progression for a woman, but she must have the mental readiness for it.

Several girls, who marry young and conceive without planning, had a very difficult phase of motherhood. They are barely grown up kids themselves and wish to enjoy and live up life. A baby ties them down to nursing and nappies and often there can be a sense of frustration and irritability in doing the every demanding and never ending tasks of little babies, when night and day are one.

The natural sense of fulfilment, the natural sense of gratification gets replaced by acute sense of  annoyance, a sense of mental depression and finally some mothers take extreme steps.

Whether it is the post delivery depression or the financial burden of spending 2 lakh in hospital bills, when the father is a tailor and these steep bills can take its toll; whether the knowledge that a girl in the Indian society is a burden and as she grows up, there will be increased expenses, led to Deepika taking this extreme step is a matter of conjure, unless she opens up a heart and talks to a counsellor. However, since this is already a registered police case and she is being suspected for murder, she may never get a chance to share this heavy guilt and bare the truth of her feelings with anybody. The truth of her feelings will now stay buried inside her.

— The writer is an entrepreneur and educationist