The body of a 72-year-old woman was found lying in a pool of blood on the footpath outside her Salt Lake AC block home on Wednesday.

Usha Ray Chowdhury was depressed but police do not think she had killed herself. They suspect she accidentally fell from the first-floor balcony of the three-storeyed house.

A morning walker saw her lying on the footpath around 6.20am and woke up her husband S.K. Ray Chowdhury, a former director of a reputed battery manufacturing unit.

“We have sent the body for post-mortem and are awaiting the result. After a preliminary investigation, it doesn’t appear that she was thrown off the balcony. She probably lost her balance and fell,” said a senior officer of Bidhannagar (North) police station.

The couple lived alone. Their son, a software engineer, lives elsewhere in the city, while their daughter is married in the US.

Neighbours and relatives said Usha had been depressed since returning from her daughter’s house in the US.

“She would often worry about what would happen if one of the two passed away and the other was left alone,” said Jharna Mitra, a relative.