A 35-year-old woman who was found dead with her five-week-old daughter at the foot of a block last year had been suffering from postpartum depression and was unable to cope with caring for her baby, a coroner's court has found.

was an account executive who was married with two daughters, the second of whom was born on Sept 20 last year. The family lived in a flat on the 10th floor of a public housing block.

At about 5pm on Oct 29 last year, a passer-by at the block heard the sound of bamboo poles breaking followed by two loud thuds. He turned and saw the woman and the baby on the ground. He called the police.

Officers found the deceased woman lying on the ground next to the rubbish chute and the child nearby. Other items found near them include baby shorts, baby socks, a diaper and a pair of broken spectacles. 

here were no signs of struggle in the flat and a voice recording addressed to her husband was found on the woman's phone. 

In the recording, the woman said that she should not have had the baby as she did not know how to take care of babies or her family. She said that she was not a good mother and wife and had let the family down.

She asked her husband to take good care of their older daughter and expressed regret that she would not be around to watch her grow up. She gave her husband the password to her bank account and ended by saying that she has no other way as her mind was not working.

Both mother and baby were certified to have died from multiple injuries consistent with a fall from height.

Medical reports indicated that the woman had gone to Gleneagles Hospital on Sept 20 last year to induce labour. She was diagnosed with maternal distress during labour and delivery.

She was discharged well three days later with no obstetrical complication other than gestational diabetes. There was no symptom of postnatal depression and the woman did not mention any suicidal ideation.

The woman's husband said that they had their first child in 2016 and all was well then. His wife was healthy after the delivery last year, he said.

During the first month after the baby was born, a confinement nanny cared for the mother and child. About five days after the nanny left, the woman told her husband that she was stressed over having to take care of two children.

She said she had forgotten how to take care of children, and her husband reassured her, saying that his mother would care for their older daughter during the day. He told his wife that she did not have to do anything except rest and take care of the infant.

During her pregnancy, the woman had told her husband that she wanted to quit her job as she was feeling stressed. He told her that it was normal to feel stressed at work and that she should be thankful to have a job during the Covid-19 pandemic.

After the birth, the woman again said that she wanted to quit her job, but her husband told her to rest during her maternity leave and not think about work. She did not speak about quitting her job again and her husband thought that everything was all right, the court heard.

On Oct 29 last year, the day began as usual, the woman's husband said, and he left for work at about 7am without noticing anything unusual about his wife. He only found out what happened when the police called him.

The deceased woman's colleague said that she had not complained of any difficulties in caring for her first child.

On the day of the woman's death, the colleague sent her a phone text message asking if she was well. The woman replied that she was not feeling very good and she did not know how to take care of babies anymore.

She added that she did not know what her baby wanted, or why she was crying and could not sleep. Her colleague suspected that she could be suffering from postnatal depression and advised her to get help and employ a domestic worker.

The woman replied that she was not inclined to spend money to hire a domestic worker, and did not express any intention to end her life. 

Her childhood friend also testified during the coroner's inquiry, saying that she did not notice anything unusual when she visited the family at their home. 

She later heard that the deceased was feeling depressed, and when she asked her friend about it, the latter said that she did not know how to take care of babies anymore.

A day before the suicide, the friend visited the woman, who told her that her baby would cry whenever her older daughter cried. She also said that she did not know how to make her children stop crying, and her friend consoled her, saying that it was normal for babies to cry and gave her some advice on how to care for infants. 

She suggested that the woman employ a domestic worker, and observed that the deceased did not seem to have much appetite and did not sleep well. She appeared depressed and kept repeating that she was lost and did not know how to care for her baby. 

Police investigations found that the deceased was having difficulties in caring for the baby when she no longer had a nanny to assist her. 

Her friends suspected that she was suffering from postnatal depression and suggested that she get hired help, but she was concerned about the cost.

She also appeared anxious about coping with work after her maternity leave, and although her husband reassured her and made alternative care arrangements for their older child, the woman's concerns and anxiety persisted.

 

30th September 1999

 

the incident of Tokaimura Nuclear Power Plant is relevant. An unfortunate incident took place on 30th September 1999. An employee, named Hisashi Ouchi who worked in the Tokaimura Nuclear Power Plant and was entrusted with the task of reprocessing Uranium by a company called JCO. That company never followed the SOPs to deal with the processing of Uranium. They were accused of unsafe transfer practices and use of out dated equipment. Above all, the employees were never provided any training to handle any unforeseen events or critical work related emergencies.

On the date of ill-fated incident, Hisashi Ouchi was performing the task of pouring a mixture of uranyl nitrate into a containment tank. Unfortunately that tank was not well equipped to handle the amount radioactive material that it was supposed to handle. Ultimately, the tank reached its point of critical mass and nuclear fission chain reaction was started.

Hisashi Ouchi was performing the task and a large portion of his body was directly extended on the tank. There were two other people in the room who were effected according to their distance from the Tank. Yutaka Yokohawa was viewing the incident from a distance of fifteen feet along with another colleague, Masato Shinohara. They all narrated the incident to investigators that they heard a large banging noise and room was filled with a blue flash which was generating large amount of neutron beams and gamma radiation.

Before he could be rescued and moved away from the incident cite, Hisashi Ouchi had been exposed to seventeen Siverts of nuclear radiation. It was double to the radiation level that has been considered fatal. It has also been said that Hisashi Ouchi was exposed to the highest level of radiation that a human being has ever been.

This nuclear exposure has a fatal effect on Hisashi Ouchi’s health. He struggled for 83 living in excruciating agony before finally passing away. Initially, he felt dizziness, nausea, vomiting and a feeling of being light headed. He could have died earlier but the doctors wanted to study the effects of radiation on his organs to make a breakthrough in the medical Science. Another employee Masato Shinohara also had the symptoms of dizziness, nausea, vomiting and a feeling of being light headed but he survived a little longer due to being on a distance.  The only survivor of that unfortunate incident was Yutaka Yokohawa that was also being on a distance of fifteen feet.

But, it was Hisashi Ouchi who had the worst in this event. After he was rescued from the incident cite and transported to the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, he seemed stable except a few initial symptoms and the doctors and nurses expected his quick recovery and discharge from hospital. But the next few days proved that his ailment will be long and he might not be able to survive long. Study of his bone marrow exhibited that his chromosomes and white blood cells were completely destroyed. Doctors were trying hard to cure him and keep him alive. 

For this they adopted multiple treatments which included a test of stem cell therapy but none of it was working.  He was being kept alive through different experiments and treatments. The radiation poisoning which he had been exposed to, this sad incident had destroyed his vital organs which resulted in organ failure. After three weeks of the incident, his intestines started hemorrhage and the doctors had to give him ten blood transfusions in the short span of time of twelve hours. His skin started sweltering and pieces of his flesh started falling off in front of doctors. 

Fluids were pouring out from the places where the skin had fallen off. Blood was pouring out even from his eyes and it felt as if he was crying blood. He was drained of all his body fluids in a single day. Blood transfusion was being administered along with other fluids to keep him alive. Skin transplant was being executed where his body has shed off the skin. But it never worked. He started shouting in pain and requested doctors to stop their efforts of keeping him alive. 

Doctors put him on a short coma to give him some relief from the pain. After two months of the incident his body continued the hemorrhages and there was no sign of improvement. His heart rate was at 120 pm due to heavy stress on it. Finally, after 83 days of the incident, on 27 November his heart stopped beating. Before that he was resuscitated three times despite his requests to end his sufferings.