A 55-year-old woman named Kumari was grievously injured after she made a dramatic attempt to escape from an apartment in the sixth floor of a building in Marine Drive of Kochi.
Kumari, who hails from Salem inTamil Nadu was employed as a domestic worker at the house of a lawyer called Imtiaz in the Link Horizon apartment. In what the police say prima facie looks like a desperate attempt to escape, Kumari tied two sarees together and tried to use them to slide down from the balcony. However, she lost her grip in between and fell down, suffering grave injuries.
According to the police, residents found Kumari who fell on top of a car shed that was parked in the apartment, at around 8 am. The house owner alerted officials of the Fire Department who then arrived and rushed her to a hospital.
Kumari was first taken to the Ernakulam General Hospital and was later shifted go the Lakeshore hospital for further treatment. She was reportedly conscious when she was taken to the hospital by fireforce officials. She has sustained grave injuries on the head and legs and has been placed on a ventilator.
Though it is not yet known when she fell and why, police indicated that they would question the employer to investigate if it could have been a case of violence inflicted on the domestic worker.
A police officer from the central police station told TNM that currently they only have suspicions over the incident. "Probably she was trying to escape from the apartment by trying to slide down through the balcony and met with the accident. More details will be known after detailed questioning of the flat owner and Kumari," he added.
Ernakulam Assistant Commissioner of police K Lalji told media that Kumari has been working in the apartment from 2019 November.
"During lockdown she went home and reached back a week ago. The people in the apartment say that she used to sleep in the kitchen. It was found that she tied the sarees through the window of the kitchen and tried to come down. She might have slipped in that attempt," he said.
Imtiaz reportedly told the police that Kumari had locked the kitchen from inside and since she did not open the door even after they knocked many times, they checked through the window and she was found missing. It was at the same time that she was found on top of the car shed, he reportedly said.