An 83-year-old woman is believed to have jumped off the roof of a three-storey building on Suren Sarkar Road in Phoolbagan early on Saturday.
The suspected suicide was apparently aimed at ensuring that neither her son nor daughter, who are based in the US, faced any trouble in case she fell ill and was left immobilised.
Police identified her as Ava Das and said the incident took place around 6.45am when most of her neighbours were not yet awake.
The police have found a note tucked inside the case of her glasses. Officers said the note suggested that she did not want to burden anyone, neither her kids nor her family members, with her ailments.
Ava had retired as an assistant headmistress of a local school and used to live alone. A few months back, one of her sisters joined her and they had been staying together, along with the sister’s husband.
On Saturday morning, the sister told the police, she woke up to the sound of a thud and found Ava lying on the road with blood oozing from her nose. She raised an alarm. The police took Ava to NRS hospital where she was declared dead.
Ava abhorred taking help from family or neighbours, a police officer said.
“Ava had told her sister that she did not want anyone to get hassled or burdened if she fell critically ill,” said an officer of Phoolbagan police station. “From what we have gathered, it appears that she was a fiercely independent woman.”
