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Vile Parle fire: Domestic help dies shielding toddler from smoke
A domestic worker, Ankita Chhetri (23), died shielding a two-year-old boy, Abir Batavia, from a fire that broke out on the 11th floor of Shanta Bhuvan in Vile Parle. Police say she…
The Story in Brief
A domestic worker, Ankita Chhetri (23), died shielding a two-year-old boy, Abir Batavia, from a fire that broke out on the 11th floor of Shanta Bhuvan in Vile Parle. Police say she grabbed the toddler and took shelter in a bathroom as flames spread. Both were found unconscious and later declared dead at Nanavati Hospital. Postmortem results confirm both died of smoke inhalation.
Chhetri's body remained unclaimed at the morgue for two days because her parents, who live in West Bengal, could not give consent. A former employer finally helped her aunt Kamla claim the body on Thursday evening. Four other members of the Batavia family were treated and discharged. A case of accidental death has been registered at Santacruz police station.
The Indian Opinion
Coverage of this tragedy rightly praises the worker's bravery. But it also glosses over the routine precarity that killed her. She had no safety net, her postmortem was delayed for days for want of family consent, and her former employer, not the family she worked for, finally helped claim the body. The question is not whether she was brave, but why a young woman far from home could die unnamed in a morgue for two days.
Sources (2): timesofindia.indiatimes.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com (2)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
