A woman allegedly immolated herself and her eight-month-old son outside her parents’ home in a village in Jharkhand’s Jamtara district around midnight on Tuesday.

Preliminary investigations have found that the woman was depressed as her child was ill for the last four-five months and her husband was not sending sufficient money from Chennai, where he worked.

The deceased woman has been identified as Vaishaki Murmu, 25. She was staying at her parents’ house in Suriyapani village under Nala police station of Jamtara since early this year after having come for the delivery of her first child. The area is around 230km northeast of state capital Ranchi.

“Her husband Ranjeet used to work somewhere in Chennai. The woman had come for delivery of her child in early 2020 but got stuck at her parents’ house due to the lockdown. Her eight-month-old child Vishnu Murmu was constantly suffering from fever and other diseases. Though her husband used to send money every month from Chennai, the amount was not enough and this led to bouts of depression,” said officer-in-charge of Nala police station, Daya Shankar Rai.

The woman came out of her room with her child around midnight on Tuesday and allegedly doused herself and her child with kerosene and set both on fire.

“Her parents said Vaishaki came out of the room while others were sleeping and set herself and the child on fire. Alarmed by the smoke and the shrieks of the woman, the family members came out. After dousing them with water, they rushed both to Nala community health centre at night where the doctors declared the boy brought dead while Vaishaki died during treatment. Autopsy of both was conducted at Jamtara Sadar Hospital and the bodies were handed over to the relatives for the last rites. We have informed the husband about the incident,” said Rai.

The in-laws of the woman stay elsewhere in Jamtara district.