Palghar (Maharashtra), June 25 A 30-year-old tribal woman allegedly killed her minor daughter and later hanged herself from a tree in the forests on the outskirts of Jawhar, around 160 km north of Mumbai, the police said on Thursday.
According to investigating officer Appasaheb Lengare, no suicide note was found. The woman was missing along with her daughter since the last three days.
Identified as Mangala Wagh, the woman first hanged her daughter with her sari and then herself from a tree near a hillock, around 1 km on the outskirts of the Deragaon village, Lengare said.
She left behind her husband Dilip Wagh and another 7-year old daughter when she walked out of their hutment on June 22 along with the younger daughter, 3-year old Roshni.
According to the locals, Dilip Wagh was a brick kiln labourer and was mostly jobless due to the lockdown, and the family lived in dire poverty.
"The Sarpanch informed us after some tribals discovered the two bodies hanging from the tree. The bodies have been sent for autopsy and further investigations are on," said Lengare.
Meanwhile, social activist, former legislator and Shramjeevi Sanghatana President Vivek Pandit said that he 'felt responsible' for the incident.
The Chairman of a state panel to study the status of tribal welfare schemes, Pandit said he had been telling the government to pay attention to the tribals' plight or they would die of starvation more than Corona.
"If policy makers are still sitting in their ivory towers, that means I could not perform my duty to make the government work. So I feel I am guilty, not anybody else," said Pandit.
( With inputs from IANS )