Woman throws 7-year-old stepdaughter to death from 3rd floor terrace in Bidar, arrested

BIDAR: Apprehensive that she would lose a share in her husband’s properties, a woman pushed her stepdaughter to death from the third floor terrace of their house in the town. The incident occurred on August 27 and the stepmother has since been arrested by the Gandhiganj police.

Roopa and Shanvi seen on the terrace; (right) Shanvi seen falling down.

During questioning, the arrested Radha told the police that she killed 7-year-old Shanvi as her own children would have to share the husband’s property with the stepdaughter. On the fateful day, she took Shanvi to the terrace on the pretext of playing, made her stand on a chair and threw her off the terrace. She then went inside the house and slept in a room.

Shanvi walked up to the road and was helped by passersby, but collapsed within minutes.

Shockingly, the girl had initially survived the fall and came up to the road in front of the house. Some local residents who were passing by, spotted the girl and knocked on the gate of the house to alert the parents, but Shanvi died a few minutes later. Initially, Shanvi’s family thought she had accidentally fallen from the terrace while playing.

Shanvi with her grandfather.

The incident came to light on September 12 when a neighbour went through CCTV footage and shared it with Shanvi’s family. A heartbroken grandfather of the girl, Suresh, said, “Even when my father died, I did not cry so much, I simply cannot bear the loss of my granddaughter. Shanvi was a brilliant student in school. Me, my wife and son have not eaten for the last three days and we break down whenever we think of Shanvi”.

Shanvi’s mother had died of tuberculosis and the father had married Radha three years ago. Suresh and his son run a business in Bidar town. “She should be given the harshest punishment for pushing Shanvi to death”, Suresh demanded.