A homemaker in Mainaguri of Jalpaiguri threw her toddler into the swollen Teesta on Monday, allegedly as she could not arrange food for him.
Three residents, two girls and a woman, rescued the boy. Police also reached the spot and spoke to the woman and her husband, asking them not to do such a thing again.
Sources said the woman, Sima Bawali, resides in Marichbari near the Teesta river in Mainaguri block with her husband Bipul, a carpenter by occupation. The couple has a three-year-old daughter and the one-and-a-half-year-old son.
On Monday morning, as they didn’t have a single grain at the house, Sima could not prepare food for the children. As her son started whining, Sima fought with Bipul. Soon, Bipul left the house in search of some work.
A frustrated Sima took her crying son to the Teesta river bank and threw him into the river.
At that moment, two girls, Pallabi Kirtania and Mallika Pal, and a woman, Bishuka Pattadar, were nearby. They noticed the act, jumped into the river and rescued
the boy.
As they brought the child to the riverbank, the mother tried to snatch him from them to throw him into the river again, they claimed.
They raised an alert, which made some villagers assemble at the spot. As the trio told the assembly of people what happened, some villagers got agitated and started beating up Sima.
Bipul, her husband, reached the spot. “I did not get any work over the past few days. Whatever money I had, I spent on buying rice. Today (Monday), we didn’t have any rice left at home, which is why I went out to see if I could find some work and earn some money. I had no idea that my wife would take such a step,” he said.
Sima admitted that she took the step due to lack of food. “My son was crying since morning as I could not give him food. I got upset. I wanted to throw him into the river as I could not nurture him as a mother,” she said.
Siuli Kirtania, a panchayat member, said some residents got agitated after the incident. “They could not accept that a mother can throw her son into the river. The situation turned normal after police reached the spot,” she said.
Police officers spoke to the couple and alerted Sima. “They have been told not to abstain from such a move. Some residents helped the family,” said a senior officer.