A woman with her 10-month-old child jumped out of a moving car to allegedly escape a molestation attempt by the driver on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway in Virar here on Saturday, said the police.
The child died on the spot while the woman was badly injured. The woman was admitted to the hospital where she is undergoing treatment, added the police.
The accused had been identified as Vijay Kushwaha. Mandvi police station had booked the driver for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and molestation, as per the police. The police are also examining the CCTV footage present on the incident.
The police said that on Saturday morning, the woman was headed to her parents’ residence in Palghar with her child. She reached Pelhar and took a Maruti Eeco, they added. In her initial complaint, the woman said that in order to protect herself from a molestation bid by the driver, she jumped with her baby, which led to the child’s death.
The driver, however, told the police that the baby fell out of the woman’s hand, following which the mother leaped from the car in panic. He added that the incident took place when she was using his phone to make a call to her husband.
The woman was soon taken to a hospital and, initially, she said she jumped out of the vehicle to protect herself during a molestation bid. However, later she changed her statement and said the girl jumped out of her hand and fell.