Financial crisis forced an out-of-work bar girl to try to end her life by jumping into the sea from the Worli end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link on Sunday morning.
Three fishermen saved her. She was taken to the Poddar Hospital, where she underwent a medical check-up and was soon discharged.
Shehnaz Sharafat Khan alias Rajni, 23, lives in Jari Mari Sadan building at Hill Road in Worli with her mother and 21-year-old brother.
“Her mother said she was depressed as the family has been facing financial problems since the bar she used to work in shut down nine years ago. She would often have heated arguments with her mother and brother,” said an officer with the Worli police station. “She had left home without informing anyone twice in the past, but was traced by her family members.”
At 2.20am, the Worli police received a call that a woman had jumped in the sea from the sea link.
“When we reached the spot, three fishermen were trying to save her life. The fire brigade and ambulance were also pressed into service. The woman was fished out of the water and taken to hospital,” said senior Inspector Vasant Tajne.
He added that Khan was not drunk at the time of the incident.
“We will ensure that the three fishermen — Manish Kumar Singh, Vinayak Somusundaram Pillai and Yuvraj Varpe — are given some reward. They have saved a life by risking their own,” said Tajne.
“We were at the sea front when we saw a woman walking towards the sea link. We did not suspect anything at that time. But, as she continued walking on the sea link and reached the fifth pole, the guard blew the whistle. We looked up to see her jumped from the bridge. Without thinking, we too jumped in and pulled her out of the water,” said Singh.
There was more drama in store for the police when they escorted Khan home from the hospital.
She had left home at 1am, saying she was going for some work and would return in 10 minutes and had locked the main door from outside.
“As Khan had lost her set of keys in the sea, we broke the lock. Khan’s sobbing mother rushed to embrace her, thanked us for saving her life and simply shut the door,” said a police officer, requesting anonymity.
Even as the police team stood outside the door requesting her mother to allow them to record Khan’s statement, her mother did not open the door.
“We had to return to the station without recording her statement. A few hours later, we went back to the flat and managed to convince her mother,” the officer added.
The police have not yet registered a case and were making further inquiries into the reason for the suicide attempt.
