K. Anu at North Port police station after being rescued from drowning on Sunday afternoon. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

The wife of a paramilitary force constable of Durgapur jumped into the Hooghly with her 12-year-old son at Jagannath Ghat on Sunday afternoon. She survived, but her son died.

K. Anu, 35, tied Rohit’s legs to one end of her sari before jumping into the river around 1pm. A group of people assembled on the banks saw her sinking and dived in. They dragged the duo to the shore. The child had died by then.

The boy’s father, posted at Durgapur Steel Plant, had no idea when Anu had left their home with Rohit, said one of his Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) colleagues.

“K.D.S. Raju informed us that he could not find his wife and son. We were thinking of going to the local police and seeking help, when we received the message from Calcutta police. Raju left for the city immediately,” said another CISF officer in Durgapur.

Officers who questioned Anu at North Port police station said she refused to divulge the reason behind the suicide attempt.

“She kept saying that she was suffering from ailments and did not want to live. We could not interrogate her because she was not in a state to answer our queries. The reason will emerge after her husband reaches the city,” said deputy commissioner of police (headquarters) Pradip Chatterjee.

Women police officers were called in to talk to Anu. “We asked the women officers to counsel her. They talked to her for over three hours. She was in a state of shock. We need some more time to make her open up,” added Chatterjee.

According to Netai Paik, one of the men who saved Anu, she tried to jump back into the river after being rescued.

“We were getting ready to take a dip in the river. We did not see the mother and son go down the steps of the ghat. We noticed her when she was struggling to stay afloat. Three of us jumped into the water and saved her,” recounted Paik. The rescuers were shocked to find the child tied to Anu’s sari.

“The boy, who was motionless, was dragged to the shore with the mother. She probably started drowning when the boy’s body began to sink,” added Paik. “When the woman saw her son was not moving, she fainted. We took both to Medical College and Hospital.”

The doctors declared the child dead and released Anu after first-aid.