Broke, Panicked, and Alone: 22-Year-Old Navi Mumbai Mother Strangles Her 5-Day-Old Baby Because She Couldn't Afford to Feed Him

A heartbreaking tragedy in the Turbhe MIDC area of Navi Mumbai has exposed the raw, devastating intersection of extreme poverty and postpartum desperation. A 22-year-old mother was arrested by the police for allegedly strangling her five-day-old newborn son, driven to a point of total mental collapse because she knew the family couldn't afford to keep him alive.

The young mother, identified as Ashwini Yogesh Chandanshive, was married at 18 to a truck driver whose tiny, unpredictable income barely covers basic rent and food. The couple already has a daughter who isn't even a year and a half old yet.

She reportedly only discovered her pregnancy at seven months and was denied an abortion due to legal restrictions and the advanced stage of the pregnancy.

According to people close to the family, the second pregnancy was a source of sheer panic rather than joy. With their savings completely exhausted and already struggling to care for their first toddler, the mother was reportedly consumed by a dark, relentless anxiety throughout the entire pregnancy. She spent months asking herself how they would ever manage the daily cost of milk, basic clothes, and medicine for two infants.

She gave birth to a healthy baby boy on June 4 at a municipal hospital. But when she brought the newborn back to their cramped home, the financial reality of their situation triggered a severe emotional breakdown.

The breaking point came on Monday evening. Left alone with her overwhelming fears and two crying infants, the mother allegedly strangled the five-day-old baby. The crime came to light around 5:45 p.m. on the same day when her sister-in-law, at whose house she was staying for postnatal care, found the infant unresponsive. Ashwini allegedly confessed to the act upon questioning. 

The Turbhe police rushed to the scene, registered a criminal case, and immediately placed the mother under arrest. While the legal system will process the act as a severe crime, neighbours and local handlers admit the situation is a damning indictment of societal failure revealing what happens when a young woman is completely isolated by poverty, crushed by mental health neglect, and left with absolutely nowhere to turn for help.

Read More: UP Horror: Mother Puts Newborn in Fridge, Family's 'Evil Forces' Suspicion Diagnosed as Postpartum Psychosis