Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The High Court of Bombay at Goa has quashed the chargesheet and legal proceedings against a woman accused of abandoning her one-month-old infant in a plastic bag behind her residence last year, acknowledging that the act resulted from postpartum psychosis—a severe, though treatable, mental health disorder occurring after childbirth.
The court observed that the woman’s actions were not premeditated, but rather stemmed from an undiagnosed episode of postpartum psychosis. It was submitted during the hearing that the woman had endured significant emotional and physical trauma, including complications during childbirth, a premature delivery, emergency surgery, the recent death of her father, and the mental strain of caring for a newborn.
Postpartum psychosis is known to cause symptoms such as delusions, confusion, extreme anxiety, and impaired judgment. In this case, these symptoms had not been recognized or treated at the time of the incident.
During the proceedings, it was brought to the court’s attention that the woman is currently in a stable and supportive environment and is actively caring for her child. Both her family and her in-laws are reported to be united in focusing on the child’s wellbeing. The baby, who was found unharmed at the time, is said to be thriving under the mother’s care.
The original case had been registered under charges relating to child abandonment and endangering the life of a minor. However, taking into account the medical condition, the background circumstances, and the positive developments in the mother and child’s life since the incident, the court opted to quash the proceedings.
